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RECOLLECTIONS 






OF 



LABRADOR LIFE. 



BY LAMBERT DE BOILIEU 



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LONDON: 
SAUNDEES, OTLEY, & CO., 

66, BROOK STREET, HANOVER SQUARE. 

1861. 






LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, 
AND CHARING CROSS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



To a work of this description no preface is 
necessary : the title speaks for itself. I need 
only say that in these " Recollections/ my 
desire has been to afford a proof of the 
powers of endurance possessed by man in a 
healthy state ; and to show through what varied 
scenes and startling changes it may please the 
Governor of the Universe to guide and guard 
him. 

August, 1861. 



CONTENTS. 



-♦o^- 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

The Passage Out .-. .. ., .. ".. ., .. ., 9 



CHAPTER II. 

In Haeboub .. ., ,. .. 21 

CHAPTER IIL 
Cod Catching and Cueing 32 

CHAPTER IV. 
Life on the Island ., ., „ .. 43 

CHAPTER V. 
Bears — Black and White .. 52 

CHAPTER YL 
Wolves, Deed, Game, etc 63 



VI CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE 

Fur Animals and Seals 75 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Seals .. ~ .. .. .. 89 

CHAPTER IX. 
Winter — Christmas .« .. 101 

CHAPTER X. 
The Woods — Woodhouses, etc 115 

CHAPTER XL 
The Esquimaux 124 

CHAPTER XII. 
Adventures — Fox-trapping 140 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Spring, Spring-Ducks, etc. .. 153 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Foxes — Tales — Sea — Tracks .. , 171 



CONTENTS. Vll 



CHAPTEE XV. 

PAGE 

Newfoundland and Back Again m 181 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Life on the Coast — Autumn .. .. 188 

CHAPTER XVII. 
King Frost Again 197 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Expedition to Sandwich Bay ' . . 209 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Journey Home from Sandwich Bay 222 

CHAPTER XX. 
Home Again 232 

CHAPTER XXL 
Trained Dogs, and Homeward Bound 239 



KECOLLECTIONS 



OF 



LABRADOE LIFE. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE PASSAGE OUT. 



-K>^ 



I remember that fine crisp morning in the 
month of May, when I left my home bent on 
seeking my fortune in a strange land. I was 
not at all particular as to which part of the 
globe I should visit ; so taking a westerly 
course from the Great Citj, I found myself in a 
few days at a small seaport town in Devon, and 
there I embarked on my first voyage to a 
country known only to me by name. Without 

B 



10 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

further preface, it was a voyage to Labrador. 
The ship I embarked in was a snug little brig 
of 200 tons' register. We had fine weather for 
several days down Channel, but, notwithstanding 
this, it seemed that my adventures were to 
begin already. About 3 a.m. on the 29th May, 
one of the youngsters of the brig, a few years 
my junior, happened to slip overboard from the 
head. Knowing he could not swim, I — who 
was a good swimmer — did not hesitate, but 
leapt into the water and, after some little 
difficulty, saved him. Here, I take it, is a 
decided proof of the desirability of all boys 
being taught, when young, to swim, for when I 
first began to acquire the accomplishment, I had 
no notion I should ever find it of much practical 
service. 

My next adventure — or, rather, this was the 
brig's adventure — occurred early one morning, 



THE PASSAGE OUT. 11 

when I was strangely impressed and somewhat 
frightened by hearing " the man at the mast- 
head' crying out, "Iceberg ahead ! ' On going 
aloft to look at it, I could only see a small 
speck on the horizon, but this, I was told by the 
man on the look-out, was the berg, and that it 
was a very large one. It was about four miles 
off, and the wind being extremely light, it was 
some hours before we were abreast of it. I can 
give but a poor description of the grandeur of 
the berg. It seemed to me like a large city 
with innumerable church-steeples rising here and 
there. In size, I was told, it was from four to five 
miles long, and about one mile broad, so that it 
really might, in this particular, have been a city, 
and held a city's population ; subsequently I saw 
bergs even larger and broader. To be in the 
vicinity of an iceberg, I may seize occasion to 
remark here, is very dangerous for a ship, as 

b 2 



12 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

the course of the mass of ice is not direct but 
"circular," and if an unfortunate ship should 
chance to get into its vortex, she becomes 
numbered with those that are eventually re- 
turned as missing. 

After passing the iceberg we encountered 
some rough weather, which the master attri- 
buted — rightly enough, as we subsequently found 
— to our being in the vicinity of the main jam 
of ice. A "jam of ice' was his own expressive 
phrase, — indeed, a better name could not be given 
to it, — and its deafening, innumerous noise was 
terrible. It seemed to me then — and I cannot 
think of a better comparison now— as if two 
parks of artillery were blazing away one against 
the other. The wind speedily began to freshen, 
and then came the trial for the master and 
sailors. Almost at one breath the words were 
shouted to the man at the helm, "hard up/ : 



THE PASSAGE OUT. 13 

" hard down/' and in less than another minute 
all hands had jumped out on the ice-pans to 
clear the ice from the brig's bow. "Well," 
I thought, "if this lasts long, it will prove 
the master of the whole of us/ 3 Fortunately, 
however, as night came on the wind lulled, and 
left us nearly becalmed, which, after the con- 
tinuous roar of the preceding day, seemed all 
the more solemn. 

As we lay upon the water we could 
see here and there a solitary seal, or per- 
chance a wild fowl popping its head above 
the broken ice ; but with the exception of this 
for three days, during which time we were 
becalmed, we saw nothing worth noticing. All 
that time the man on the look-out was straining 
his eyes to catch a glimpse of clear water, or 
to speak more plainly a passage through the 
"jam," and straining them in vain. 



14 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

Now it happened that the master of the brig 
was an u old hand 5 on the coast, and knew 
perfectly well what every appearance of the 
atmosphere indicated ; and on the fourth day he 
hailed the man on the look-out, and asked him 
if he saw any fog-banks, and, if he did, in what 
direction they were. The man answered that 
he did see a fog-bank lying to the north-west. 
Being curious to learn to what the master's 
question had reference. I inquired of him, when, 
in a simple, kindly way, he explained the whole 
matter to me. " Where/' said he, " the ice is 
in large quantities, the fog won't rise, as it is 
absorbed as fast as it is generated. It's very 
different, though," he added, "with clear water. 
There the fog rises. We may certainly find a 
few pans of ice out there, where the fog is ; but 
nothing to speak of." 

The old master then gave orders for the 



THE PASSAGE OUT. 15 

brig's head to be turned to the north-west, and 
after great exertion on the part of the crew we 
found ourselves, about eight hours after, in a 
clear channel, say about a quarter of a mile 
wide, which was quite enough to turn the brig 
to windward in. From certain movements or 
"indications' on the part of the bird, known on 
the coast as the Barcaliau bird, — that is to say, 
from its flying the whole day in the same 
direction, — we knew it was migrating to the 
Funk or Bird Island for the purpose of breeding. 
Formerly the island swarmed with penguins, and, 
for the sake of their feathers, the Newfound- 
landers used to frequent the place in the spring 
of the year and destroy the birds in myriads. 
The island being quite barren, recourse was had 
to the bird even for fuel. I must explain this : 
in the north, where large quantities of birds are 
killed, the ordinary mode of stripping them of 



16 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

their feathers is not pursued, but a large boiler 
of hot water is employed, in which the birds, 
after being killed, are dipped one at a time, 
and then the feathers are easily rubbed off. 
Now the Newfoundlanders burnt the penguins 
to keep the pot boiling, and thus, in a short 
space of time, exterminated the whole breed 
from the coast. 

On the day following our release from the 
ice, we came within sight of Belle Isle, and 
there found a clear passage to the northward. 
The weather was fine in the extreme (the fog 
having entirely cleared away), and we had an 
uninterrupted view of the bold coast of Labra- 
dor. To my mind it looked like one vast 
fortification, the ice being of a uniform wall-like 
appearance all along the rocky shore ; that is to 
say, it was some fifteen feet high by about ten 
feet thick. While I was looking, one of the 



THE PASSAGE OUT. 17 

sailors called my attention to an extraordinary 
conflict which was taking place, not more than 
thirty yards from the ship, between three 
" monsters of the deep." The water being 
smooth and clear, I could perfectly distinguish 
all their movements. The first of the three 
" monsters ; I saw was the whale, and in 
pursuit of this, apparently acting in concert, 
were the sword-fish and thresher. The mode 
of warfare adopted by the two last was singular 
and ingenious. The sword-fish would watch for 
the whale when he came up to the surface to 
blow, when he would quickly dive under him ; 
the thresher, however, remained upon the 
surface, and did his part u above water," which 
was to " thresh' the whale with his tail,, and 
force him down on the point of the sword-fish. 
How long the chase had lasted before we hove 
in sight of them we could not say, but in about 

■ b 3 



18 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

ten minutes we saw the water was discoloured, 
and then the whale disappeared. No doubt 
the coalition had triumphed. 

It is only in sailing ships such an extra- 
ordinary conflict could have been witnessed : a 
steamer would have disturbed the water and 
driven the fish away long before it had reached 
the field of battle. 

For one day more we were striving to gain 
our port, which, I should remark, was only a 
few miles distant, during which time I had 
an opportunity of contemplating the cold and 
colossal grandeur of the scene around us. In- 
numerable icebergs of all sizes and forms, some 
representing large buildings, some like ancient 
churches, and some like old-world monuments, 
were to be seen on every hand, and over all bent 
a clear crystalline sky. One "casualty," which 
nearly proved fatal to the whole of us, occurred 



THE PASSAGE OUT. 19 

before we got into harbour. I must here state, 
what I have little doubt has been often before 
stated in Polar narratives, — that the icebergs are 
of various depths, and should the mass hidden 
below the water come in contact with a shoal, it 
breaks off; the " top-heavy' mass then turns 
over (like, to compare the very great with the 
very small, a child's sap-tumbler), and what was 
the top becomes the bottom. In turning over, 
however, quantities of loose ice split, snap, and 
splinter away, and thus it was in the present 
instance. First, as the berg began to roll over, 
we heard a low rumbling noise like muttered 
thunder ; then, this swelled and seemed to come 
nearer and nearer ; and then, as the mass really 
toppled and fell, there was a tremendous crash 
against the water, and hundreds of tons of 
debris were thrown high up into the air. 
Fortunately we were just beyond this "hurt- 



20 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFK. 

ling shower' of ice, or the result would have 
been fatal to craft and crew. The next day 
saw us snug in a small harbour on the coast 
of Labrador. 



IN HARBOUR. 21 



CHAPTER II. 



IX HARBOUR. 



"♦O*- 



The 25th June, and all around me nothing 
but ice and snow, with the sun shining beauti- 
fully overhead! I could scarce believe I was 
in a place inhabited by human beings. A sort 
of deathlike stillness seemed to reign over the 
snow, and there was no land in sight, so far as I 
could make out. I was told the snow was thaw- 
ing fast, although I could not at first perceive it. 
On close examination, however, I found this to 
be the case, and also found that on the Labrador 
coast the snow thaws from the ground, and not 
from the surface. 



22 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

I was much surprised that in about ten days 
after my arrival, things began to put on a spring- 
like appearance. The snow had left us, land was 
to be seen, and the sun shone with an undimmed 
lustre. Still I could see no vegetation whatever 
around me; all w r as bright, barren, and bare. 
The island I was located on was about two miles 
long and one broad, inhabited by only about 
sixty persons in the winter, but in the summer 
by some thousands. I found the men busy pre- 
paring for the toil of summer — fishing; for di- 
rectly the ice leaves the coast, shoals of cod 
make their appearance, to deposit their spawn 
in the quiet bays with which the seaboard 
abounds. 

The first Sunday I passed on shore, I seized 
occasion to ask a few questions respecting the 
missionaries I had heard had done so much 
in this (as in every other) part of the world. 



IN HARBOUR. 2 



o 



The information I received somewhat astonished 
me, for on my asking one of the old hands if he 
had seen many missionaries during the time he 
had been living there, his reply was, as near as 
possible, as follows : — 

" The fact is this 'ere place is too poor for 'um 
to come to ; we havn't furs enough for them, and 
they can't set up ' shop ; here. Why, do you 
know," he added, half-indignantly, " I went down 
a winter or two ago to the ' Arabian Nights' Ter- 
ritory,' to try and trade with the North-west 
Indians ; well, would you believe it, when I 
came up with them I was positively driven away, 
as they said they were forbidden to trade with 
any other but the Arabian Nights." 

I was curious to know who the Arabian 
Nights (? knights) were, and asked him for an 
explanation ; but, from his supreme ignorance, I 
could get nothing more than a repetition of the 



24 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

same, to me, unmeaning phrase. Some time 
afterwards, however, I discovered it was the 
name given to some missionaries who had esta- 
blished themselves in the richest part of the 
coast, abounding in valuable furs of all descrip- 
tions ; and I further found the place w 7 here I then 
was had not been visited by any mission for 
years, and I am somewhat doubtful if it ever 
had. I mean by the " missionaries/ 2 those of 
the Established Church, or Dissenters; the 
Roman Catholic missions I saw every year, 
and they remained with their flock about two 
months each summer-time. I wrote to the 
Bishop of Nova Scotia, and pointed out to him 
the state of affairs for some hundreds of miles 
along the coast, asking him for a trifle towards 
erecting a small chapel, in which, when built, I 
offered — as there was no one else at hand — my 
services to read prayers and give lectures. The 



IN HARBOUR. 25 

prelate, however, politely declined to assist me 
in any way. Still, during the time I lived on 
the coast, when opportunities offered, I read 
prayers to an assembled few. To me it seems 
sad and shameful that a large district adjoining, 
I may say, Nova Scotia, should be without all 
spiritual administration ; that people should be 
" married," christened, and in some parts buried, 
without rite or service of religion being per- 
formed. So much for our boast of missionaries, 
and our dissemination of the Gospel in foreign 
parts ! The furs really outweigh the faith. 

I must now proceed, however, to more mun- 
dane affairs, and attempt a description of the 
ordinary life and regular routine of the place. 
The cargo generally taken out from England 
consists of salt (ballast), which is used for the 
purpose of curing the fish ; dry goods and pro- 
visions are also exported from home. The cargo 



26 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

unloaded and stored^ the crews are divided in 
parties of three or four men, each being titled 
according to the position he holds in the boat. 
For instance, " skipper, 5 ' " second hand, ?: " mid- 
shipman ;' ! last comes the " captain," who has the 
least to do — merely, indeed, to cook for the rest 
and to keep the boat clean. Every day brings 
its cargoes of Irish, who migrate here in the 
summer to catch fish, cure it, and take it back 
with them in the fall of the year, and dispose of 
it either in Newfoundland, or proceed with it 
to the markets of Genoa or Leghorn. Now, 
in the summer season, commences an active, 
bustling scene ; every person is employed night 
and day in obtaining fish. I say night, but it is 
night merely in name. Night and day hold 
each other's hands upon the hill-tops ; which in 
plain prose is, — no sooner does the sun set north 
by west, than, like a giant refreshed, it rises 



IN HARBOUR. 27 

again north by east, having been absent only 
about an hour. Such a sudden change must be 
seen to be adequately appreciated, or even fully 
understood. Imagine an artist painting sunrise 
and sunset from nature at the same time, the 
lights and shades of " daybreak " and " evening ' 
absolutely mingling together about an object ! 

Go on the hill with your spyglass, and look 
around ; never was a more glorious sight ! 
What a month ago was one chill ruin of ice — 
" a marble storm in monumental rage " — now 
teems with life and placid natural beauty. You 
may observe some two hundred boats or more on 
the Fishing Ground, the occupants sitting, still 
and dark, against the clear, sparkling atmos- 
phere. A perfect harmony is kept up between 
the whole of the fraternity of fishermen ; you 
seldom hear of them quarrelling. They are 
now, as you look, waiting for each other to cast 



28 [RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LTFE. 

their nets, for they like to act in unison. Some 
of these nets are formidable machines, being 
about two hundred and forty fathoms long, by 
from eighty to ninety fathoms deep. I have 
seen one of them quite full of cod-fish, when, in 
drawing it up, a small rent was found to have 
been made in it, and the fish — finding this out 
too — made their escape, not a single one being 
caught. When a good haul is made a signal is 
hoisted, and all spare hands are employed to 
fetch the fish home. Besides the large " seine,' : 
each boat is provided with five or six nets, to 
place the fish in when caught; these nets will 
hold from one to three tons. They are filled 
from the large net, and moored in the neigh- 
bourhood of the hauling-place, a watch-buoy, 
with the owner's name upon it, being set floating 
on the water. A boat from the fishing establish- 
ment or depot having arrived alongside one of 



IX HARBOUE. 29 

these, the work of loading the jack (by which 
name all boats attending the seine are called) is 
soon completed, and the tish are brought home 
and unloaded. The mode of unloading may 
here be described. The fish are not taken out 
by hand, but by an instrument called a " pew,' 
which is a prong wdth one point. Should a fish 
be damaged in the body, it is deteriorated in 
value; so great care is taken to stick the pew 
through the head of the cod, and thus to land it 
on the stage-head, where it undergoes the first 
process of salting. In large establishments the 
cod-stage is usually a permanent building built 
over the water, with generally a good depth of 
water in front, in which is cast the offal of the 
fish. The size of the stage varies from one 
hundred to one hundred and fifty feet long, by 
about thirty feet wide. At the end, near the 
water, is a long table, set crossways, and the end 



30 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

of the stage itself is like an ordinary store, with 
folding-doors opening from the waterside. The 
fish being all landed, the operation of salting 
commences, and no one ever thinks of leaving 
off work until the whole haul of fish is cleared 
and salted in bulk. The first person on the 
stage engaged in curing fish is the u cut-throat," 
with his double-edged knife; the next is the 
" header,' who dislocates the neck, and forces 
the head of the fish off, which falls into the 
water through a hole cut in the table. The 
header also separates the liver, which likewise 
passes through the table into a tub placed for its 
reception. The fish is then handed over to the 
u splitter,' who opens it to the tail, and, with 
one smart and sharp blow T from a splitting knife, 
separates the backbone. If this process is well 
done, the end where the first incision was made 
represents the figure 8 ; and the splitters plume 



IN HARBOUR. 31 

themselves on (without intending any joke) 
their eightful skill. The fish is next placed on 
a sledge, or sliding barrow, and taken away by 
the principal actor on the stage — the person who 
cures or salts. The cod is now placed in what 
is called salt-bulk, where it may remain any 
period of time ; for, so long as fish is being 
caught in the bay, so long will the " drying ' 
and "washing" — which constitute the final 
process — be delayed. 



32 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 



CHAPTER III. 



COD CATCHING AND CURING. 



-+o*~ 



Continuing my notes piscatorial, I may com- 
mence this chapter by informing the reader 
that the man who prosecutes, or speculates in, 
the fishery, is called the Planter ; and his mode 
is generally to hire his men by the voyage, 
giving them food and lodging, with the use of a 
boat, for half their labour, retaining, however, 
the cod-livers for himself. Under this arrange- 
ment a good hand will clear in about three months 
from twenty-five to thirty pounds. Strange to 
say, each man knows his own fish, the method of 
marking them being this : — Suppose three men 



COD CATCHING AND CURING. 33 

are fishing together, — one cuts a notch on the 
right side of the tail, the second cuts one on the 
left, and the third leaves his as he catches them. 
When the fish are cured, each man selects his 
own by the mark. With the cod-fish comes the 
caplin fish (Salrno Arcticus), in such shoals that 
it is extremely difficult to row a boat through 
them. The fishermen use them as bait with 
which to catch the cod. The whale, too, is 
very fond of the caplin, and annually destroys 
them in thousands. I recollect once being em- 
ployed in procuring this bait when it was scarce, 
and having found some in a small inlet, I ob- 
tained a boat-load and was about returning 
homeward, when our passage out of the inlet or 
cove was disputed by a whale, who, attracted by 
the caplin, was disappointed at our first capture, 
and kept us at bay nearly two hours. We had 
no fire-arms in the boat, or I have a shrewd 

c 



34 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

notion that the two hours would have been 
lessened. It was not pleasant to find the way 
stopped by such a monster. It may seem strange 
that the caplin should come so close in-shore, as 
if for the very purpose of losing its life. It looks 
very much like felo de se, but the fact is, the 
female caplin is a small, slender, and weak fish, 
without sufficient power to emit her spawn, unless 
assisted by the male. Let me explain : On a 
fine day, when there is a light ripple on the beach, 
you may see thousands of these beautiful small 
female fishes swimming towards the shore or 
landwash, each accompanied by two males, one 
on each side of her ; nearing the sand, the males 
press against the female, when the spawn is 
rapidly deposited. In nine cases out of ten, 
however, some of the party lose their lives, as 
they dart on shore so swiftly, that the ripple 
retires without bearing them back. 



COD CATCHING AND CURING. 35 

When caplin is scarce, recourse is had to 
another small fish, called the lance or sand-eel, 
for bait. Great toil and labour are experienced 
in procuring this fish ; men sometimes being 
away for days before a sufficient supply can be 
obtained for a half-week's fishing for a crew. 
It is fortunate that the cod are sometimes so 
plentiful upon the ground that they can be 
caught without any bait at all. Then it is the 
fishermen use a double hook, cast in a mould, 
called a "gigger,' 1 the hooks being fixed back to 
back, with some lead run upon the shanks, in 
the shape of a fish. The gigger, being let down 
to the bottom, is played by sharp jerks, and 
-many fish are enticed to it by its resemblance to 
themselves, and then, as Queen Cleopatra said, 
" they're hooked/ 1 - This is a most laborious 
mode of fishing, however, as frequently the fish 
are hooked near the tail, when it requires a 

c 2 



36 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

long pull and a strong pull to haul them on 
board. 

The seine fishing being over, some thought is 
given to the fish in the stage. A day is gene- 
rally devoted to them when all hands cannot go 
out fishing on account of the state of the weather, 
as, I may remark, we have our summer gales, 
the same as in other places. From the salt-bulk, 
some ten to fifteen tons of fish are thrown into a 
large vat filled with salt water, and washed 
thoroughly clean, and are then taken out and 
laid upon each other to drain. This pile is 
called a water-horse. Should the following 
morning be fine and clear, the water-horse is 
carried on hand-barrows, and placed, back down- 
wards, on " flakes," — that is, sets of beams which 
are supported on posts and shores — and covered 
with boughs. Much depends on the weather of 
the first two or three days; for should it rain 



COD CATCHING AXD CURING. 37 

on the water-horse, and continue raining for any 
time, the fish becomes of second or third quality, 
and only fit for the West India market. On 
the other hand, if two or three fine days are 
passed, your cod are pretty sure to turn out 
fit for the Roman Catholic markets of Europe. 
The fish having been " turned 3 each evening, 
about the third day they are put in faggots, 
about a dozen fish being laid one upon the other, 
their backs upwards, as a defence from wet or 
the dampness of the night. When sufficiently 
dry, a fine warm day is chosen to lay the fish 
out, singly, on a large stage ; and during the 
hottest hours they are made up into a "fish 
pile," — which is a large quantity of dry fish, 
built up in the form of a round haystack. When 
they are entirely cured — as they sometimes 
are — upon the flakes, they are still made up 
into a pile, in order to preserve them from wet, 



38 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

to give them a gentle heat, and to make room 
upon the flakes for others. The same routine 
follows with the remaining fish in the stage, 
and ; " if fortune favours/' a cargo of three to 
four thousand quintals of fish may be sent off 
to Italy in September. 

As the reader may suppose, fish is, in Labra- 
dor, a standing — or, rather, the standard — dish. 
But although without cattle of any sort, we 
have a " compensation 5 of wild fowl of every 
description. But fowls — like hare — must be 
caught before being cooked ; and during the 
summer months, Thursday was the day allotted 
to shooting. One or more of the masters in 
port generally accompanied the party, — if not 
to shoot, to cook for the rest. After rowing 
about eight to ten miles from the shore, we 
generally fell in with birds of all descriptions ; 
those most easily obtained being the wild duck 



COD CATCHING AND CURING. 39 

and goose. The latter is far superior to any 
of our tame geese in England, but is easily 
domesticated. After the day's sport we pitched 
our tent under a rock, made our pies, had our 
meal, and in short enjoyed ourselves mightily. 

An incident, laughable enough in its way, 
occurred, on one of our excursions, to an elderly 
skipper who had volunteered to cook for us during 
our absence amongst the numerous small islands 
in search of the game. He had a great aver- 
sion to a gun, and talked vaguely and myste- 
riously of a " presentiment ' that if he ever 
used one, some " dire mishap ' would befall 
him, as it did that other ancient mariner. Ar- 
rived at our sporting ground, we left him to 
prepare our day's repast, for we never thought 
of eating more than once a day when out sport- 
ing ; and then, I can assure you, we made an 
ample meal. On our departure, the skipper 



40 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

requested that a powder-horn might be left with 
him, in case his fire should burn low after his mid- 
day nap. He was a large and heavy man, and, 
like Mr. Wardle's fat boy, a great sleeper. His 
request for the powder was of course complied 
with ; and away we started. On our return, late 
in the day, we heard, as we thought, the report 
of a gun; and on our joining him found that a 
" dire mishap " had indeed befallen him, hut that 
without the use of fire-arms. The fact was, he had 
taken his nap, and — it is always so — had " slept 
rather longer than he expected/ and finding 
the time for our return was approaching, and 
the fire nearly out, availed himself of the unfor- 
tunate horn, and shaken a few grains of powder 
on the heap of dry stuff he had placed on the 
dead embers, w r hen, to his astonishment, this 
dry stuff formed a sort of train to the mouth 
of the horn, exploding the whole contents, and 



COD CATCHING AND CURING. 41 

depriving him — narrow " shave " — of the whole 
of his whiskers and the greater part of his hair. 
After a good laugh at his expense, we showed 
him that after all it was of the powder more 
than of the gun, a man with a " presentiment ' 
should bew r are. 

The number of birds generally killed by 
three of us for the two days and a half amounted 
to about sixty. They were mostly ducks and 
geese ; the proportion of the former, however, 
being ten times as great as that of the latter. 

Besides the cod, Labrador is rich in salmon. 
The mode of catching these is with a " fleet J of 
three nets, which are fastened to each other so 
as to form a pourd ; the fish in striking the first 
and even the second of these may not be 
meshed, but he cannot escape the third, as, 
when once there, it is impossible for it to re- 
trace its swim. The mode of curing salmon 

c3 



42 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

is less difficult than that of curing the cod-fish. 
After being caught^ it is merely cut down the 
back, cleaned, and put into puncheons, and 
salted and repacked in small casks for shipment. 
The mackerel also abounds in great quantities, 
with herrings, trout (of fine quality), and nu- 
merous other fish, all fit for the table, with the 
exception of the u lump ' fish, which is nothing 
more nor less than a lump of blubber. 



LIFE ON THE ISLAND. 43 



CHAPTER IV. 



LIFE ON THE ISLAND. 



-*o*- 



In one of our weekly excursions we had a sharp 
chase after a deer, and killed him in the water, 
following him round a small island, and cutting 
off his retreat. After a great deal of trouble 
we made him take the water, and instinct di- 
rected him to the main land, where, had he 
reached it, he would have been lost to us. Im- 
mediately we found he had taken to the water, 
we manned our boat and away we went in 
chase. Although we had four good oars, he 
had got the start, and we could not overtake 
him, so we had recourse to the following expe- 



44 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

dient : when the deer arrived near the shore, 
one of our party fired a bullet direct towards 
the rocks where the animal would have landed, 
and the reverberation of the sound turned the 
animal towards us ; and so, after a little dodging 
about, he became an easy prey. 

The Labrador Fishing Establishment is also 
a general store, and when any one requires sup- 
plies the mode of dealing is entirely by barter. 
In a large establishment a special warehouse is 
generally fitted up — the ground-floor being gene- 
rally devoted to hardware and groceries of all 
kinds ; the second floor to drapery goods ; the 
third floor to earthenware, boots, shoes, hats, 
caps, &c, &c. ; and the fourth floor to blankets 
and rugs — both very useful, not to say abso- 
lutely necessary, in cold w r eather. 

The mode of barter is as follows. A man 
comes to the office of the house, and delivers a 



LIFE OX THE ISLAND. 45 

" weight note" or a " quantity note" — the 
former for fish, the latter for oil. The price of 
this is filled in to his credit, and away he takes 
it to the warehouseman (who on the coast is a 
very independent sort of individual), and ex- 
changes it for food. Such a system, I need 
scarcely say, is clumsy and inconvenient. Should 
the man want tea or sugar, he must buy a can- 
vas frock, and convert the sleeves into bags in 
which to carry it ; or should he have purchased 
stockings, they are equally useful for the same 
purpose ; if rum is bought, it entails the addi- 
tional purchase of a new tea-kettle (jars and 
bottles are rare and priceless). 

In the summer season the hours indoors are 
very uncertain, although, of course, as much is 
made of the light time as possible. Early rising 
is the order of the dav. Four o'clock is the 
recognised time, and, immediately on coming 



46 KECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

down, a dram of rum is taken by almost every 
person who can afford it. Flies and mosquitoes 
are troublesome at all hours, but less so in the 
early morning than when the sun becomes more 
ardent. Once we found an Irishman dead on 
the island, about ten miles from the Establish- 
ment, with his face half eaten away by these 
insects. 

The mention of this poor fellow's fate re- 
minds me that one thing we wanted on the 
Establishment was a surgeon, although, during 
my residence on the coast, we had (excepting 
the case to which I have just referred) only 
one death, and that from extreme old age. I 
am sorry to say drinking is a prevailing vice, 
and difficult to prevent, as, instead of beer- 
shops, as in England, we had floating hotels 
— where wines and spirits of all sorts could 
be procured — from Quebec and Halifax. On 



LIFE ON THE ISLAND. 47 

a free — somewhat over-free — coast like th^ 
Labrador, no license is required ; you may 
sell what you like, and in any way you think 
proper. Under such a system intoxication is 
sure to be rife ; still, what I may call the ex- 
cesses of excess are not so apparent as the reader 
would imagine. 

As the season advances, labour begins to 
slacken ; still there is plenty of sport. The 
curlew has now made its appearance on the 
coast, and a most delicious bird it is, as every 
epicure must know. So bold are the curlews in 
Labrador, that you may sit on a rock at low- 
water, and, in the course of two or three hours, 
kill forty to fifty. These, however, make a 
heavy bag to carry, to say nothing of the rocky 
nature of the ground. 

September is a glorious month on the coast. 
Then you may (as we often did) shoot the stag, 



48 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

and enjoy the pleasure of eating real Polar 
venison. A banquet of this is, to those who 
are necessarily compelled to eat so much fish, a 
treat more delectable than is the green fat of 
the turtle to an alderman. And here let me 
remark that, when a stag is caught, it is not 
stingily husbanded, but is dispensed with real 
good fellowship and freedom. Indeed, hospi- 
tality cannot be carried out with simpler grace 
or to a more liberal extent in any country than 
it is in Labrador. Every person receives a 
welcome on entering a house, and whatever the 
host may have you can share with him, And 
this not for a night only, but for a week if you 
desire it. The only compliment which passes 
from the visitor is, that he will be glad to " pay 
back, neighbour,'' when opportunity offers. In 
most ways the habits of the people are primi- 
tive. After the toil of the day, they will sit 



LIFE ON THE ISLAND. 49 

round a spacious room and crack jokes and 
make merry. On one occasion, I remember, 
matrimony was the topic ; and a youth who had 
been paying court to a young lass who had for- 
saken him for another swain, was bantered by 
one of the company on not being able to get a 
wife. The argument ran — as arguments on 
such intensely personal subjects sometimes do 
run — rather high, when the youth, to put an 
end to the whole matter, proposed the following 
terms, which he committed to paper, and got 
five of the party to sign. He bound himself 
under certain penalties to procure a wife in 
twenty-four hours from that time ; and they, in 
turn, bound themselves, should he fulfil his con- 
tract, to provide him with sundry household 
goods, the value of the whole being, perhaps, 
thirty pounds. The joke having taken this 
essentially practical form, the company sepa- 



50 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

rated, and away our Coelebs went in search of a 
wife. I am rather sorry the prize was found so 
quickly, as one doesn't feel any great interest in 
such a story without the interest is prolonged. 
Within two hours, however, of his leaving the 
company, the blighted being was restored to 
happiness. He did not go to his old love, but 
accidentally meeting with a lass who had heard 
of the contract, and, strangely enough, fell in 
his way, she felicitated him in anticipation of 
his wedding, when he replied, " You shall be 
the bride, if you choose." The offer was coyly 
accepted, and the next morning they were man 
and wife — that is to say, as much man and wife 
as any pair can be beyond the reach of the rites 
of the Church. I hardly like to spoil the story 
by telling that he never got the furniture. The 
other parties to the contract slipped from their 
bargain, although the wife took very good care 



LIFE OX THE ISLAND. 51 

her husband should not slip from his. She was 
a bit of a termagant, and ruled him close, as if 
determined he should personally realise the wis- 
dom of the proverb that " they who marry in 
haste, repent at leisure." 



52 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE, 



CHAPTER V. 



BEARS BLACK AND WHITE. 



-*o*~ 



The white bear has one cub every year, but 
never deserts the first until it is two years old, 
when she has a third. Thus you may be sure 
when you see a she-bear, you'll find in the 
vicinity her two cubs. When- — as has often 
been remarked, and as I frequently found during 
my sojourn in the North — driven by hunger, 

the bear is very bold and daring. They some- 
times come prowling about the establishments, 
stealing what food they can, and making off 
without much haste or fear. The seal is its 
principal food. Although heavy in appearance, 



BEARS BLACK AND WHITE. 53 

it looks majestic, and inspires something like 
awe as it sweeps silently over the snow. The 
white bear of Labrador may be termed the king 
of the frozen regions. Unless you have a quick 
eye and an unerring aim, my advice would be, 
should you meet one of these monsters, leave it 
alone. It happened, one fine bracing .morning, I 
was strolling in search of game, when I came to 
a very difficult point or jag of land, which quite 
shut out from my view an inlet or cove which I 

a/ 

knew was the resort of wild fowl. Finding it 
utterly impossible to round the point, I asked 
myself what I had better do. After a little 
consideration, I came to the conclusion to 
mount the adjacent cliff', go to the end of the 
cove, and, with gun in hand, cocked and primed, 
slide quietly down the slope, and be ready, the 
moment I reached the bottom, to fire on the 
game which I felt would be congregated on the 



54 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

spot. Imagine my horror when, on reaching 
the bottom, I saw, about ten yards from me, 
three white bears— an old she-bear and two 
cubs ! What was I to do ? I could not retreat 
without passing the monsters, and to attempt to 
pass them was like courting death. I waited 
patiently for the bears to approach. Resistance 
to the triad of monsters seemed useless, and 
yet, somehow, I resolved to die hard. I held 
my gun in hand ready for the first assault, and 
presently the old bear came slowly towards me, 
growling, but not appearing at all furious, or 
even in very great haste to make out what I 
was. Her all but calm way of peering at me 
as she moved leisurely along was even more 
terrible than I believe would have been her 
anger, and I lost nerve, and felt myself grow 
faint and half-oblivious. On came the bear, 
now silent as death. I stood like a thing inani 



BEARS — BLACK AND AYHITE. 55 

mate ; another measured step or two, and I 
knew she would be upon me — and yet I could 
not move. My eyes grew dizzy, my head 
swam round, and I can only recollect the mon- 
ster's nose coming in contact with the muzzle of 
my gun, when, as if by instinct, I pulled the 
trigger, and down fell the monster at my feet ! 
The report awakened me, for I found myself 
loading my gun (which I did in a short space of 
time), and took my place behind the bleeding 
carcase of the dead animal. The cubs did not 
appear to take much notice, but I was still in 
danger of the " two-year old," who presently 
made a move towards the dam, and, smelling 
the blood flowing from the death- wound in the 
head, set up a most piteous howl, then turned 
and looked me full in the face, as much as to 
say, "You are my mother's murderer!' I 
began again to grow frightened^ but as the 



06 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE, 

animal happened to turn towards the other cub? 
I again fired, and, as it was only a few paces 
distant and presented a fair mark, I literally 
blew its heart to pieces. To slay the third was 
comparatively easy work. The three carcases 
were laid together, and, without caring to shoot 
just then at smaller game, I walked off, thanking 
Providence for my deliverance. The weather 
coming on rough on the following day, and con- 
tinuing so for some time, I regret to say I could 
not secure my prizes. 

During this spring myself and a comrade 
had a most exciting race with a bear-cub in the 
water, but its rapid swimming and sudden 
diving bothered us a good deal. When along- 
side with it, we struck it on the skull with a 
hatchet, but it scarcely seemed to notice the 
blow, and certainly did not decrease the celerity 
of its movements. After about an hour and 



BEARS — BLACK AND WHITE. 57 

a-halfs chase, however, we drove the cub on 
shore, and then very rapidly settled it. 

The largest bear I ever saw could not have 
been less than fourteen feet long, and was 
stout in proportion. The skin would have 
made a comfortable carpet for a moderate- 
sized room. The circumference of the paws, 
which I measured, was twenty-five inches, and 
they appeared strong enough to crush an iron 
column. 

The flesh of the bear is coarse and indi- 
gestible, and seldom eaten. One part of the 
beast is very useful, namely, the oil, which lies 
between the skin and flesh. This is highly 
prized on the coast as a liniment in cases of 
rheumatism. The skin of the beast, too, is of 
course more or less valuable according to size, 
quality, and colour. 

The black bear is the most mischievous and 



58 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

destructive animal with which the fisherman has 
to contend. It is fond of molasses, oil, and 
salmon, and some have been known to break 
open a store to satisfy their fancy in these direc- 
tions. Old residents in Labrador have a great 
dread of seeing a black bear in the daytime, 
for the superstition is that its appearance for- 
bodes a calamity to some person in the neigh- 
bourhood. Being one day in conversation with 
an old man who had resided on the coast fifty 
years, I asked him if he really believed the 
bear was anything more than a bear in day- 
time ; upon which he became quite nervous, 
and, looking round him with doubt, as if a bear 
might be in sight and hear the callous way in 
which I spoke of it, he said — " Just you mind ; 
it's no laughing matter, as pYaps this little 
story will show you !' I could scarcely repress 
a smile at the old man's earnestness of manner, 



BEARS BLACK AND WHITE. 59 

but I listened attentively as he told me the 
following : — 

"It is now ten years since I had an only 
son, a fine, strapping man o' thirty. He could 
do anything — save read and write — and do it 
well. He would have been a credit to the first 
Rifles in the world. Indeed," said the old man, 
with tears in his eyes, " I could speak about 
him all day, but I must tell you his story. 
There lived then, in Black Bear Bay, just to 
the nor'-west o' Seal Islands, a party of Esqui- 
maux, and one day when my son was out deer- 
hunting he took refuge in the wigwam of the 
party from a passing storm. Two young Esqui- 
maux girls were employed skinning young seals. 
Being of a goodnatured disposition, he naturally 
offered his services. Well, he remained there 
all night, and left the next morning, and came 
home. He never thought nothing of the girls — 

d 2 



60 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

how should he? — there was nothing very en- 
ticing about them to think of. It was not so 
with them ; they had made up their minds to 
be his wives, and fancied they had only to ask 
to be accepted. So, without more ado, up 
comes the old squaw in a day or two, and took 
me all aback like with her request for my son. 
I knew he would not have them, and so I told 
the old girl. She mumbled some sort of threat 
on leaving my hut, and went home. Well, 
about a week afterwards, my son was out hunt- 
ing with a gun up a salmon-stream, in a small 
boat, when what should he see peep out from 
behind a bush, in the broad daylight, but an 
enormous black bear, looking at him full in the 
face. He rowed towards the spot, and no 
sooner had he done so than the bear quickly 
vanished and appeared at another, and so 
dodged him until it led him to a fall (or small 



BEARS— BLACK AND WHITE. 61 

cataract) where the bear stood still boldly ; but 
just as my son was on the point of firing, the 
beast again leapt away, and the boat went over 
the fall ! My poor boy was picked up by a 
neighbour, shortly after the accident, but the 
shock was too much for him, and he died about 
two days afterwards. Before his death, he in- 
formed me in the most confident manner — and 
should I doubt a dying man? — that he was 
sure the bear was none else than the old squaw 
transformed. Now," asked he, triumphantly, 
" do you mean to ask if a black bear is no more 
than a bear?' ! I smiled, and asked myself the 
oft-repeated question, " Where are the mis- 
sionaries ?" 

Throughout the depth of winter the black 
bear is in a dormant state within his cave — and 
yet not exactly so, for on opening his retreat 
and attacking it, it invariably shows some small 



62 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE, 

amount of resistance. It makes nature its for- 
tifier; that is to say, on the first appearance 
of snow it seeks the hollow of a rock, and there 
allows itself to be snowed in. To a practised 
eye, however, the place is easily discovered by 
the perforations on the surface of the snow, 
caused by the respiration of the brute ; when 
it is found it is dug out and shot. Winter 
is the season when the animal is in prime order, 
and care is taken in slaying it to save the 
skin whole and clean. The oil, as I have 
said, is good for medicinal purposes ; but, 
strange to say, I never saw it used for the 
hair. Indeed I was told that instead of nou- 
rishing the hair it burnt it off. What says Mr. 
Truefitt to this ? 



WOLVES, DEER, GAME, ETC. 63 



CHAPTEK VI. 



WOLVES, DEER, GAME, ETC. 



-»<>♦- 



The Labrador wolf fights well. He is cunning, 
but unlike most cunning things, he is coura- 
geous. Fie feeds chiefly on the elk and moose- 
deer, and, like the deer, he is gregarious. There 
are generally from eight to ten wolves in a pack. 
Their appearance is strange and striking in the 
extreme; they march just like the front rank 
of a company of soldiers, with their leader a 
little forward on the left; they keep about 
two feet apart, and when a herd of deer is 
sighted, at a given signal they break up into 
detached skirmishing order. In a short space 



64 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

of time, however, you will observe the whole 
of the skirmishers in a close circle round the 
deer, fast closing to the centre, when the con- 
flict, being so unequal,— for the wolf is immea- 
surably stronger than the deer — soon terminates 
in the wolves sitting in banquet over the bodies 
of the conquered. The flesh of the wolf is 
worthless, but the skins are of value for drum- 
heads. 

On my paying a visit once to an old 
planter, I observed, suspended from the ceiling 
or roof of his hut by a small piece of cord, 
the skull of some animal. Being curious, I 
inquired if it was for use or ornament. " Bless 
me ! ' said he, " don't you know what that is ? 
w^hy, that is our weather-glass, barometer, and 
everything else ; a wolf's head, and whenever 
we are on the point of having a change of 
wind, you may be sure that skull will indicate 



WOLVES, DEEE, GAME, ETC. 65 

it, and what the change is to be.'' This made 
me still more curious, and I pressed him for 
more information. " I have had that skull 
thirty years/ 5 said he, u and — although a crafty 
wolf's — it never deceived me. Now look here ! 
suppose the wind is north, and that skull's nose 
points to the east, and so remains for a week ; 
after the wind shifts from north, we get an 
easterly wind for just as long as the skull 
pointed in that direction ; and so on for any 
other quarter of the compass.' 5 He frankly 
told me he could not explain the reason, but so 
it was, and so it is; for I procured a skull and 
suspended it in a quiet place, and found, as the 
old man said, it never deceived me. I have 
since oft asked the question from old residents 
on the coast, if they could in any way give 
a reason for the weatherwise movements of 
the skull. One very naturally replied by asking 

d 3 



66 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

me how I could account for the magnetic point 
of the compass turning always one way, and 
added that he thought the one just as myste- 
rious as the other. " But perhaps/ 2 he said, 
"it's worth your considering that the wolf is 
always going head-to-wind in search of food, 
and as the wind changes so his course changes. 
Now is his instinct, as you call it, really in his 
skull ? " 

It is said of the wolf, and our domestic La- 
brador dog, that the breed is crossed, and that 
the Esquimaux dog is the result. During the 
whole period of my residence on the coast, I 
never knew or heard of any tangible proof of 
this ; and I would rather favour the supposition 
that the Esquimaux dog partakes more of the 
fox than of the wolf: first, from its diminutive 
size ; and secondly, from its fondness for all 
sorts of wild fowl and domestic poultry. 



WOLVES, DEER, GAME, ETC. 67 

The deer has another most treacherous and 
powerful enemy, in the animal called the wol- 
verine, or glutton, which is about the size of our 
common badger. On all parts of the coast are 
deer-parks or pasture-grounds, and also deer-paths 
leading to and from these pastures to a retreat in 
the wood. In many instances some part of the 
path is low from the proximity of the branches 
of the firs. The wolverine places himself on 
one of these low branches, and awaits the passing 
of the herd, when he makes a spring from his 
lair, and fixes his victim on the neck, and bleeds 
him until the deer drops, and becomes the 
common repast of the wolf and and other carni- 
vorous animals abounding on the coast. On 
every hand the deer has his enemy, even the 
fox being sometimes marshalled against him. 
This antagonism, however, implies that the fox 
shall be very hungry and the deer very small. 



68 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

Return we now to our fishing-home. While 
we have been wandering with the bear and the 
deer, quite a change on our small island ! the 
ships have disappeared for their various desti- 
nations, and only a few unsuccessful fishermen 
are left to try and " fetch up lee-way ' by 
exertion with the hook and line. What fish is 
thus caught is of the best quality, and is not 
landed, but kept on board ship in bulk, and 
taken to a southern clime for curing. 

During my absence on my sporting tour, a 
rather romantic affair took place, which was 
related to me by a neighbour, but the truth 
of which,-— absurdly improbable as the story 
seems — I can guarantee. An Irishman, named 
Glaveen, did not live on the best of terms 
with his better-half, and how to get rid of her 
in what he called a " dacent manner,' was a 
puzzle, so he hit upon a most singular expe- 



WOLVES, DEER, GAME, ETC. 69 

dient. One fine morning, with much gravity 
marked on his countenance, he expressed him- 
self thus : " Well, Biddy, I am tired of my life, 
and have been thinking about the other world, 
and how I could manage to do the thing in a 
quiet manner ; now I will tell you my plan : 
I have heard hanging is about the most pleasant 
death a man could die of ; and with vour consent 
I mean to try it, only you stand by, and when 
you see me kick, you cut me down immediately.' 
Well, poor silly thing ! she agreed to what her 
husband had proposed. A rope was procured, 
a noose made, the same passed over a beam 
in the hut, adjusted round his neck, and hauled 
u taut," Pat himself standing on a stool the 
while. The signal being given, when the stool 
was removed and away, Glaveen kicked, and 
was immediately cut down by the unsuspecting 
wife. No sooner down than he exclaimed in 



70 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

a fit of transport and joy, <; Oh, Biddy ! sorry 
it is I am you cut me down ; one of the most 
elegant deaths I was about to experience ! The 
few moments I had in that state seemed a 
whole life to me ; purgatory was passed, and 
behold, St. Peter, with the key of glory, came 
up to me and said, as if he knew me, ' Welcome, 
Glaveen, thrice welcome.' Then, Biddy, I 
thought of you, and should have been sorry to 
have left you without letting you know of my 
happiness ; and how glorious it was to die by 
hanging. Now, Biddy, I will give you a chance : 
get up on the stool and try it yourself! 3 Sure 
enough the poor creature did as she was bid, 
and Mr. Glaveen, knocking the stool from under 
his wife's feet, left her swinging, but not to her 
fate ; as one of the neighbours, who had listened 
to the whole affair, was immediately on the spot 
and cut her down just in time to save her life. 



WOLVES, DEER, GAME, ETC. 71 

In September we generally had a visit from a 
Surrogate magistrate, in a schooner, but this is 
done away with ; in fact it was a mere farce 
of a court. The judge was a retired post-captain 
in the navv, and the court was held on board 
a schooner hired for the purpose. It frequently 
happened that the judge got drunk, and then 
the scene in court was richer than anything in 
' Pickwick.' As neither solicitors nor barristers 
came with the flying court, we had to manage 
our own suits. The only cases ever brought 
before the court were for wages. To give the 
reader some idea of this mode of justice, I may 
mention that a notice to the following effect was 
posted a week previously to the judge's arrival. 
" The Surrogate will hold a court in this harbour 
on Wednesday next, when plaintiffs and defen- 
dants may attend to try any case they may 
have to bring before the court." Wednesday 



72 KECOLLECTIONS OF LABKADOK LIFE. 

arrives, and his Honour arrives as well, attended 
by clerk and sheriff's officer, for you must know 
the judge acted also as sheriff; and now the 
farce begins. The sheriff's officer acts as crier, 
and opens the court by proclamation, and all 
the early day there sits his Honour so con- 
sumedly drunk, as to be scarcely enabled to 
distinguish any of the parties about him ; and 
after an hour or two's sitting, he abruptly settles 
all the cases, telling the crier to adjourn the 
court to the next harbour at ten the following 
morning; that harbour being, perhaps, twenty 
miles off. I was twice the victim of this 
" Shallow' justice; for on following the court 
to the next harbour for the purpose of getting 
an execution signed by his Honour, to my 
infinite disgust, just as I got alongside the 
schooner, I heard the orders given to " sheet 
home the topsail/' and was politely informed 



WOLVES, DEEK, GAME, ETC. 73 

over the bulwarks that the court had just ad- 
journed to another harbour some twenty miles 
still farther on. 

Such was the only court we had to deal 
with, and glad I was when I learned it was 
done away, for such a mockery of justice was 
calculated to bring both the British crow r n and 
the British flag into contempt. 

We have indications now of the approach of 
winter. All life is taking a southerly direction, 
except ourselves who are compelled to winter on 
the coast. Flocks of ducks may now be seen 
continually flying south, and every day we have 
hints of what a lonely life we have to expect 
when winter really arrives. The days, too, begin 
to shorten. 

Towards the end of October the books are 
closed and sent home to England for exami- 
nation, duplicates being kept for reference. The 



74 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

last ship has gone from the coast, and we may 
fairly say we are cut off from communication 
with all parts of the world. Our nearest neigh- 
bours on the coast itself are ten miles off. 



UR ANIMALS AND SEALS. 75 



CHAPTER VII. 



PUR ANIMALS AND SEALS. 



Before heavy frost sets in, we are busily en- 
gaged in trapping — chiefly for their furs — ani- 
mals and birds of all kinds, such as the martin, 
the mink (a small amphibious creature of the 
otter species), the otter, the beaver, the fox, 
the wolf, the wolverine, the lynx or wild-cat, the 
musquash (a species of the rat), the porcupine, 
the hare, the rabbit, white and spruce partridges, 
and the ptarmigan* As the martin and the fox 
bear the richest furs, I will take them first. 
The martin, or what is termed in England the 



76 EECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

sable, belongs to a distinct class, perfectly pure 
in breed, but not very plentiful where I resided. 
The flesh is unfit for human food — indeed, the 
canine race will not touch it. Singularly 
enough, like the wolf, and, in fact, all wild ani- 
mals on this coast, martins are always walking 
head to wind ; thus an old hand told me one 
day, " Mark me, sir, if we have an easterly 
wind this fall, we shall have lots of furs/ : I 
asked him the reason, and he told me because 
the animals would in that case march towards 
us. 

Of the fox there are several species on the 
coast, but the valuable breed known as u silver- 
hairs " are scarce. The " silver-hair ' is the 
same size as our common fox, with a beautiful 
jet-black fur for the ground, which on each end 
is tagged with about an inch of " silver tinge," 
which glitters like jewels in the sun and snow. 



FUR ANIMALS AND SEALS. 77 

When young, the u silver-hair " is easily caught, 
and becomes docile. 

The next best foxes are the blue or slate- 
coloured, the patch or particoloured, and the 
yellow— the whole of which belong to one tribe, 
and form one family, as it is very common for a 
vixen to have a litter of five or six, and each of 
a different hue. The value of foxes varies much. 
The silver-haired and blue foxes would realise 
from twenty to thirty pounds each skin, while 
the patch and yellow would only fetch about 
one pound ten shillings. 

There is another species of the fox on the 
coast, but almost worthless for fur. This ani- 
mal turns white in the winter, and it is verv 
difficult to see upon the snow. I once caught 
one alive, and tried to tame him like the others, 
but he was a sullen beast, refused all food, and 
actually starved himself to death. 



78 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

The mink (of the otter species) is inferior in 
quality to the martin, the fur not being quite so 
long and bright, but in wear it is quite as 
durable ; a good skin will pass muster with 
eleven martins' ; the flesh is worthless. 

The lynx, or wild mountain cat, is an extra- 
ordinary animal to meet; you would almost 
fancy, from his bold front, you were about en- 
countering a tiger-cat ; but on approaching 
to within about thirty yards, he generally turns 
tail and flies, when you can easily shoot him 
down. Although it is not cloven-footed, this 
animal is much esteemed as a delicate dish. 
Its size is double that of our domestic cat, but 
it has precisely the same form of countenance. 
The flesh is beautifully white, and partakes of 
the flavour of the hare ; the bones are quite 
pearly, and are used by the Esquimaux for 
ornaments. 



FUR ANIMALS AND SEALS. 79 

In some of the rivers the otter abounds, and 
is most destructive to the fishermen. The flesh 
is unpalatable, and the fur is used, like that of 
the beaver, by hatters. The mode of trapping 
the otter is exceedingly simple. Being of most 
cleanly habits, and liking to repose at early 
dawn (wild animals mostly feed at night) he 
selects a smooth spot on the bank of the river, 
which on the coast is called a " rubbing-place." 
This is found by the trapper, who is then sure 
of his game. The mode adopted is to bury the 
traps in the M rubbing place,' 1 and cover them 
lightly with the soil, particular care being 
taken not to disturb any part, but as near 
as ossible to keep the place as it is. On his 
visit the next morning, he is tolerably certain 
to be rewarded with a prize. The value of 
the skin of the otter is about two pounds 
sterling. 



80 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

The musquash much resembles the common 
rat of England, and is found on the banks of 
the rivers ; the skins are of small value, and are 
generally used by hatters. 

The beaver of Labrador deserves special 
notice. It would almost appear to be endowed 
with reason, so remarkable are its habits, and so 
striking its ingenuity in the construction of its 
winter-quarters. With reference to the latter, 
the first step taken by the beaver is to find a 
pond and throw a dam across it, so as to retain 
water throughout the winter season. This done, 
a tree is selected and cut down by them, and 
falls in the direction they wish across the pond. 
The teeth of the beaver, I must observe, are 
curved inwards, are about a quarter of an inch 
wide, and some three-quarters of an inch long. 
Of course they vary according to the age. 
With these teeth they work, and on viewing 



FUR ANIMALS AND SEALS. 81 

the tree on which they have been engaged, you 
would fancy some fine carver had been at work 
with a sharp gouge. One thing, however, the 
poor beaver does which the carver does not do, 
and this betrays him to the natural foe of all 
living wild animals — man : he leaves his chips 
where they fall, and these point out his where- 
abouts under the ground. The beaver-house 
consists of three rooms or cells. The ground- 
floor is (to use an Hibernianism) in the water, 
the floor above is used for feeding, and the third 
as a sleeping-chamber. Most of the beaver- 
houses have an inlet and an outlet. If you find 
out the latter place, and stop it up, then you 
may consider the beavers your own. Having 
blocked the outlet, you dig and find out the 
inlet, which is generally near the bank of the 
pond, and under the water. There secure your 
traps, and in entering the dwelling or quitting 

E 



82 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

it, they must walk in and be caught. The 
beaver is a social kind of animal, living in com- 
munities or families, generally consisting of five 
— father, mother, and three " papouses " (so the 
young beavers are called). Strange to say, 
you never see one without a companion ( Castor 
and Pollux?), and if you catch one, you are 
pretty sure in time to have the entire family. 
On the other hand, should they have been 
aware of your proximity to their habitation, 
the whole would have gone off and found a 
shelter in some neighbour's house. A small 
species of dog, called the Mountaineer dog, is 
very useful in directing the trapper to the 
beaver-houses. 

The porcupine of Labrador is not in the least 
like its namesake of the East, the fur being a 
jet-black, with small white quills between the 
hairs. They are hunted for their flesh, vphich is 



FUR ANIMALS AND SEALS. 83 

considered a great delicacy by the inhabitants. 
They are generally found on the top bough of a 
large fir-tree. The small dog just mentioned is 
also employed on this errand, and immediately 
he comes where his instinct tells him there are 
porcupines he commences barking, and, on 
picking out the tree where an animal is located, 
he runs round and round the foot of the trunk, 
and continues his bark until the porcupine is 
bagged. This, however, is no easy task, for to 
really secure it you must cut down the tree, 
which may be fifty feet high. When the tree 
falls, the porcupine of course comes with it, 
when in dropping it generally makes a leap 
at either yourself or your dog, and, should it 
succeed in striking you, you don't soon forget 
it ; for from its tail, which is its weapon, it dis- 
charges, as it gives the blow, a number of fine 
quills, which from their formation (being like 

e 2 



84 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

the ear of barley) are so firmly imbedded in 
the flesh that to draw them is impossible, and 
you are compelled to let them work out of 
themselves the other side of the wound, wher- 
ever it may be. Fortunately the u quills upon 
the fretful porcupine " are not venomous, and 
the only pain is a rigid stiffness of the parts 
struck during the period the quills remain in 
the flesh. The porcupine's skin is of no value, 
but the quills are used by the Indians to deco- 
rate their mocassins or shoes. In size and 
shape the porcupine resembles the rabbit of 
England. 

Gradually the winter creeps on, and the seal 
makes his appearance, also bound south. This 
is the last animal seen in the water, and great 
are the preparations for capturing it. A sealing 
crew consists of not less than six men. The 
seal-nets are carefully examined, and everything 



FUR ANIMALS AND SEALS. 85 

put in order before commencing operations. A 
fine, still morning is chosen to lay the nets down, 
which is cold but most exciting work. The 
net used is generally forty fathoms long and 
two deep. The foot of it is brought-to on a 
shallop's old rode, and the head on two fishing- 
lines with corks between. It is set to any 
depth of water not exceeding fifteen fathoms 
nor less than three, and is moored by a couple 
of killicks, fastened by eight or ten fathoms of 
rope to the ends of the foot-rope, which, by its 
weight, keeps the end of the net close to the 
bottom of the water, while the corks make it 
stand perpendicular. As the seals dive along 
near the bottom to fish, they strike into the net, 
and are entangled, for the net is placed with 
one end towards the shore, the other " right oft'.' 
A long pole fastened to one corner of the net 
and a short one on the other corner (the former 



86 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

called a " pry or' and the latter a "bobber') 
show where the net is. The sealer lays hold of 
either, and by its means brings the head of the 
net to the boat. The crew then haul their boat 
along to the other end, and take the seals out as 
they go. Sometimes the nets are not seen until 
the frost sets in, when they are taken up 
through the ice, and the seals lifted out and 
drawn home on sledges. Should the water keep 
free from ice, the nets are visited every day and 
cleared. I have cleared as many as sixty seals 
out of one net. 

The seal, from its very form and physical 
capabilities, becomes an easy prey to the fisher. 
Having the power to elongate or compress its 
body from the head to the shoulders, in striking 
the net it is elongated, but finding an obstruc- 
tion, and perhaps fancying it has a foe to 
contend with, it compresses its neck, and of 



FUR AXIMALS AND SEALS. 87 

course tightens the mesh of the net and be- 
comes strangled. 

There is another method of catching the seal 
by what is called the stopper-net. Under this 
process one net is permanently fixed across a 
small channel — say between two islands — and 
another, called the entrance-stopper, is placed 
about one hundred yards to the north, one 
end being fastened to the opposite island and 
the other end attached to a long piece of rope 
in such a way as to allow the net to sink 
entirely out of sight. The end of this rope 
is made fast to a capstan, so as to be raised 
or lowered at pleasure. When a number of 
seals are seen between the two nets, the outer 
one is immediately hauled taut, and the seals, 
becoming aware of the fate awaiting them, 
examine every part of the net to find a hole 
large enough to escape from. Should they dis- 



88 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

cover one, they are off through it (like a flock 
of sheep) one after the other ; should they not 
succeed, they sometimes will attempt to cross 
the net overland, and are then easily cap- 
tured. 



SEALS. 39 



CHAPTER VIII. 



SEALS. 



There are numerous kinds of seals, a brief 
description of some of which I will attempt to 
give. Of the few with which I have met, the 
largest is the Square Phripper. In season, it 
will yield about seventy gallons of oil. The 
skin is generally used for the manufacture of 
soles for boots. The length of this seal is from 
ten to twelve feet, and it is about six feet round. 
He is rarely caught in a net, being too wary. 
The only good mode of capture is with a gun. 
Even then, if the shot kills at once, and the 
animal is in water, you lose him : he sinks, and 



e 3 



90 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

there's an end of your toil. If, on the other 
hand, you only wound him, he seeks the shore, 
and there dies. This seal furnishes, besides its 
valuable oil, a light airtight and watertight gar- 
ment for the Esquimaux. The garment is 
made from the entrails, and weighs scarcely 
four ounces. As a rule, the Esquimaux are 
very clever in this description of tailoring. The 
dress is mostly well made, and is neatly and 
strongly sewn together with the inner lining of 
the windpipe of the animal. In fact all the 
thread used by the Esquimaux in the manu- 
facture of boots, skin dresses, &c., comes from 
the same source. 

The mode of preparation is simple. The 
windpipe is taken out, and the inner skin sepa- 
rated and dried ; when dry it is cut into strips 
about two-eighths of an inch wide and about 
eight inches long. When these are required 



SEALS. 91 

for use, the Esquimaux lady takes a bundle, 
and puts it in her mouth, and draws a thread 
as she wants it, as the operation of the jaw 
shredded the strips. With this, and nothing 
more^ the Esquimaux works, but on the vellum 
the thread shows up beautifully white. 

The next large seal met with on the coast 
is the Hooded seal, so called from the power it 
possesses of inflating an enormous hood over its 
head, containing about six gallons of air. Now 
these seals are not like their solitary brethren the 
Square Frippers, but are seen in large parties. 
Being on the ice, and meeting with a company 
of these animals one day, I had a good oppor- 
tunity of watching their movements. On they 
came, though effectively to describe how would 
be a puzzle, as the seal, having no legs, moves 
with a spring and a half-leap. Their proceed- 
ings were saucy and independent in a degree. 



92 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

On the strength of their hood (which you can- 
not hurt with a heavy club) they seemed to 
despise all fear. Their antics were really scorn- 
ful, and appeared to tempt danger. It hap- 
pened, however, that I and my party had pro- 
vided ourselves with short muskets, and we 
despatched as many as we could conveniently 
carry off. 

The mode of disposing of seals on the ice 
is first to kill them and then to take their 
pelts off. When this is done, and you think 
you have a sufficient load, you cut a hole 
on the top part of the skins, or pelts, pass a line 
through them, and drag them after you. 

Next comes a seal smaller in size, called the 
Archangel. There is nothing peculiar in this 
animal except its name, and it may be passed 
over. 

The principal seal of the coast is termed the 



SEALS. 93 

Voyage seal, while the males are distinctively 
called Harps, or Blackbacks. To mark a shoal 
of these animals, perhaps two or three hundred in 
number, quietly swimming, with head and part of 
the shoulders out of water — the head, by the way, 
being a jetty black, and the shoulders tinged 
with silver lustre — the coal-black eye shining at 
a distance like a diamond, is a magnificent 
sight indeed. I have often, I must own, felt 
remorse when killing these animals, there is 
such a human expressiveness in their eye, in 
fact in their entire visage. 

When the first of these Voyage seals is 
caught on the coast a great sensation is the 
result, for this one, it appears, is the precursor 
of thousands, and a good " harvest ' may be 
expected. 

On one occasion I had charge of a boat's 
crew, and, on overhauling the nets, I heard the 



94 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

exclamation, "A Harp! a Harp, by George! 
Now, master," added the speaker, " we are going 
to have a rare voyage. Where is your knife ?" 
The knife was soon found, and the tail of the 

9 

animal cut close off to the body and carefully 
put away in the pocket for the following piece 
of amusement in the evening. On landing, the 
news soon spread throughout the establishment 
that a Harp had been caught, and the lucky 
skipper of the boat was complimented on his 
luck for securing it. Night came on, and the 
crews assembled as usual in their quarters. 
Not being exactly one of the crew, and living 
about two hundred yards away from them, I 
was politely waited upon by a lot of the old 
hands, and requested to attend on them forth- 
with, and to bring the seal's tail with me. I 
accordingly did so, and found the whole of the 
crews gathered together and shouting enthusi- 



SEALS. 95 

astically for " the tail." As I couldn't give it 
to all, I was requested by the senior skipper to 
nail it to a beam, where already figured a 
" tale ' of fine dried tails of past years. I did 
as solicited, and, according to custom, I chal- 
lenged any of the company present to remove 
the same without the use of his hands, which is 
tantamount to saying only with his teeth. 
Whoever tried and failed forfeited a quantity 
of rum, while the man who accomplished the 
task received a fine, to be dispensed for the 
benefit of all present, of two gallons of the spirit. 
In his turn he nailed up the tail, and when 
another succeeded in taking it down, the person 
nailing it up was again fined. So there was 
plenty of rum and plenty of merriment. 

When the manager of an establishment finds 
a sufficient quantity of rum has been served to 
make the crew " comfortable ' and merry, no 



96 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

more is sent them, and the Harp's tail becomes 
a memento of the evening, and is ranged amongst 
the other tails. This kind of seal produces 
about ten gallons of oil. 

A younger seal than the Harp, but of the 
same species, named the Bedlamer, is also called 
a Voyage seal. It yields the same quantity of 
oil as the Harp, but the skin is not defined like 
that of the Harp. Once on coming on shore with 
a load of these animals we were met amongst 
the broken ice by no less a personage than a 
monstrous white bear, who, beset by hunger, and 
sniffing his savoury meat, swam boldly alongside, 
and, putting his huge paw on the gunwale of the 
boat, would have capsized her had it not been 
for the presence of mind of the skipper, who 
as quick as thought cut him across the paws, 
and compelled him to drop astern, although not 
before he had actually taken out one of the 



SEALS. " 97 

boat's thwarts, a plank eight feet long, ten 
inches wide, and three inches thick. 

The next seal I have to catalogue (there is 
nothing special in it to describe) generally loiters 
on the coast later than the Harp, and frequents it 
sooner in the spring : it is called the Lazarus. 
The next kind is a small and beautiful animal, 
called the Ranger, which remains on the coast 
all the winter, and is sometimes found about the 
bays during the summer months. This species 
is very interesting, as they may be tamed and 
sent out fishing, which they will do readily. 
They are beautifully marked, and the skin is 
much esteemed by the natives. The flesh is 
sometimes eaten, but not often. 

The " Jar " is a seal of social habits, like the 
beaver, living in large communities under the 
ice in winter, and in the numerous bays along 
the coast in summer. A remarkable incident 



98 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

connected with a search for this animal revealed 
to me a curious fact regarding the formation of 
the ice in the frozen regions. Being on a 
winter cruise for the " Jar/' and night coming 
on without the likelihood of gaining shelter- — 
moreover, not knowing exactly if we were on 
land or water, the snow being so deep — we built 
a snow hut, by cutting blocks of snow, and 
placing them one upon another, gradually inclin- 
ing to the top centre. When nearly complete, 
there is a good-size square inside, and there we 
retired, and closed up for the night. 

Now it happened, having found a small rise 
in the snow, we fancied we were on terra firma ; 
but in this we were mistaken. We had located 
ourselves on the top of a Jar seal-house. One 
of our dogs gave the alarm, and fortunate it was 
he did, as doubtless before morning we should 
have all disappeared through the ice. We 



SEALS. 99 

found however, there was no danger now we had 
warning, for beneath us there were three layers 
of ice. I inquired of an Esquimaux if such was 
always the case, and he answered me in the 
affirmative. I asked if it might not be the 
raftering of the ice. He said, No ; raftering 
was very different. 

Ice, as he explained, is said to rafter when, 
by being stopped in its passage, one piece is 
forced under another, until the uppermost one 
rises to a great height. I have seen the effect 
of ice-raftering on a small island near the coast. 
Many of the ice-rocks were placed in rows and 
circles much like the pillars of Stonehenge, only 
they were much larger and of greater magnitude. 
On visiting the island some year or two after, I 
found the character of the place quite changed. 
On inquiry, I was told, that in the previous fall 
a raftering of ice had taken place, and had 



100 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

broken the mass in fragments, entirely altering 
its appearance. It is a sad sight to see a ship 
on the weather edge of ice not enabled to work 
off; for when the ice begins to rafter she is 
thrown up, falls over, and becomes like corn 
between two millstones, and is literally ground 
up. 



WINTER — CHRISTMAS. 101 



CHAPTEE IX. 



WINTER — CHRISTMAS. 



" Now, boys, bear a hand ! ' cries the old 
skipper. Where are the dogs ? Everything 
is getting fast, and we must have them whilst 
the weather is calm, or else we shall have a 
breeze springing up, and, mayhap, lose all our 
nets/' 

The morrow comes, and with it quite a new 
scene appears. The caulker has paid you a 
visit daring the night, and when you wake in 
the morning and look around, — particularly 
towards the small patches of clear water in the 
vicinity of your island, — you will observe a 



102 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

vapour rising about four feet from the surface ; 
and were you in the midst of it, you would not 
readily forget it. To use the expression of an 
old hand, " it cuts like a knife ; " and sure 
enough it does. Nay, it rather acts like a fur- 
nace on the skin ; for wherever it passes the 
bare flesh it burns the skin. You are now 
forced to wear a flannel mask on the face. In 
a few hours the whole surface of the land- 
scape is one sheet of ice. Now comes a busy 
time — laborious, and in many instances dan- 
gerous in the extreme, — and you are actively 
employed in the operation of " cutting out 
your nets/ : which are generally placed about 
a mile off the shore. A watchman is kept 
on shore to indicate any change in the 
weather, and to keep his eye on the move- 
ment of the sea ; for should a heavy swell 
suddenly break on the shore, it may shatter 



WINTER — CHRISTMAS. 103 

and scatter the ice, and you will then have 
to run for your life. 

During one winter, it happened that a heavy 
sea broke on the shores of Labrador from the 
Atlantic, which pounded and then raftered the 
ice to a considerable height. The temperature 
then became mild for the time of year — De- 
cember — the thermometer at about freezing 
point. With the change in the weather the 
seals made their appearance on the ice, which 
was so thick, and jammed or packed so tightly, 
that — once on — it was impossible for them to 
penetrate through to reach the water, and they 
thus became an easy prize. All hands but the 
cook were sent out to kill and pelt them. This 
continued for some days, which gave the men 
reckless confidence in pursuit of their game ; 
and after repeated cautions from old hands 
not to stray too far from shore, in case of a 



104 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

shift of wind, two of the hands, disregarding 
the caution, went far beyond ordinary limits, 
and suffered serious injury for their temerity. 
There suddenly came a shift of wind, the ice 
moved, and the two over-brave — which is ano- 
ther term for foolhardy — fellows were taken out 
to sea. Fortunately for one of them he had on 
a pair of Esquimaux boots, but the other only 
had on mocassins, the uppers and soles of which 
are of the same material, and these scarcely 
covering up to the ankle. The Esquimaux 
boots are very differently made from these, and 
shield the leg right over the knee; and are 
generally so large as to admit of the wearer 
having on three thick flannel socks and a good 
large " boot-stocking ' over these. Then comes 
the boot itself over all, tied above the knee. 
I leave the reader to conclude which of the two 
poor fellows had the best chance of being pre- 



WINTER — CHRISTMAS. 105 

served from frost-burns. They both passed a 
wretched, dreary night, anticipating death with 
all the horrors of cold and starvation. The one 
with the boots could and did take exercise on 
the ice ; but the other with the mocassins could 
not, his feet having become wet and stiff near 
the ankles. They drifted all through the night 
farther and farther to sea ; but, fortunately, the 
next day the wind as suddenly veered as it had 
come, and late in the afternoon they were dis- 
covered not very far from the Establishment. 
They were soon rescued, and those rough men 
wept like children and fervently thanked God. 
I need not describe their appearance. They 
were placed in warm quarters, and the one 
who had boots on soon recovered. The usual 
remedy for frost-burns is — as the homoeopathists 
will rejoice to learn — snow. A tub of this 
was procured in the present case, and the feet 

F 



106 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

of the frost-bitten man were placed in it and 
rubbed to establish a free circulation, and to 
reanimate the burnt parts. This is done by- 
rubbing with the palm of the hand. After 
they had rubbed some time, they drew off his 
stockings, when both feet came off with them, 
just at the ankle joints ! There is no pain 
during the early stage of a frost bite, but merely 
a trifling sensation, as if a needle had slightly 
pricked you. The pain comes when reanimation 
and circulation take place ; then it has all the 
arrowy agony of a severe burn. The poor 
sufferer, in the case I have described, being 
disabled for life, and there being no sort of 
sedentary employment on the coast, was sent 
to England, and being young, was, we subse- 
quently heard, apprenticed to a tailor. 

I must now return from the point where I 
diverged to relate that sad story, and describe 



WINTER — CHRISTMAS. 107 

the operation of cutting out nets from under 
the ice. A series of holes are made in a direct 
line over the nets, at about twenty feet apart, 
say for near half-a-rnile. When this is done, 
two long poles, tied together, are put into the 
first hole, and, as it were, are threaded from one 
hole to the other. At one end of the poles is 
a line called a backing-line ; and at the extreme 
end — say where the whole length of line has 
been passed under the ice — a creeper or small 
species of anchor is let down and trailed over 
the nets, which — when hooked by the creeper — 
are drawn up through one of the holes, the 
seals cleared, drawn to the Establishment, and 
placed in a heap which is covered with snow. 
Should the take of seals be great, this work 
continues for some days. When it is concluded, 
the work for the year is finished, and the crews 
quietly settle down, some in the backwoods and 

F 2 



108 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

some on the coast. Those in the woods are 
employed either in cutting down timber or in 
building boats for the ensuing season, catching 
furs or deer-hunting, or in whatever hits their 
fancy best; but none are idle. On the coast 
the men are also variously employed : in mending 
salmon, herring, seal, and other nets, making 
new ones, and in many other employments. On 
every large establishment, for instance, there is a 
cooperage for the manufacture of casks to secure 
the oil rendered by the seal. At Christmas 
the men have eight days' holiday, when all sorts 
of rough sports are carried on. I say rough, 
because the forfeits, beginning with rum, inva- 
riably end in what is termed a " cobbing ;' which 
means a dozen strokes across the soles of the 
feet with a wooden slice. Should any one of 
the crew absent himself from home on Christmas- 
eve, a deputation from the remainder is sent in 



WINTER — CHRISTMAS* 109 

search of him, and when found — even should 
he be enjoying himself at the big house or the 
cooperage — he is unceremoniously told to return 
to his home, and immediately he leaves the 
house the deputation commence chastising him 
across the shoulders with old shoes, until he 
reaches the dwelling where the crews are located, 
when he undergoes a trial for his desertion, and, 
as a matter of course, as it is Christmas-time, 
he is fined one or two gallons of rum. Very 
frequently more than one absent themselves, just 
for the sake of being fined, and to give more 
drink to the rest. The house these crews live 
in is fitted up in the dormitory exactly like a 
ship, with fifteen to twenty berths closed at the 
ends and open in the centre. 

A favourite Christmas game amongst the 
men, enacted nearly every night during the 
holidays, is — or was — one called u Sir Samuel 



110 KECOLLECTIONS OF LABKADOR LIFE. 

and his Man Samuel," in which you are to obey 
the orders of the first, but not of the second. 
Consequently, when Sir Samuel gives an order, 
his man contradicts it ; and whoever obeys the 
latter becomes the object of " after-considera- 
tion," which means that he is physically punished, 
fined, or given some laborious task to perform. 
I have seen the last carried out, to the delight 
of many, on a lazy drone who was always 
skulking his work. His forfeit, however, nearly 
cost him his life. He was condemned to supply 
the room with six turns of wood ; implying he 
should go to the stack of wood six times, which 
was at the foot of the hill, about three hundred 
yards off; and as he knew he would have no 
peace until his task was completed, away he 
went on his errand. I cannot well describe the 
night. The snow was dense in the air and 
thick on the ground, and the cold was bitter 



WINTER — CHRISTMAS. Ill 

and biting. Moreover, on the day before, an 
extraordinarily large quantity of snow had fallen, 
and, from the extreme coldness of the atmos- 
phere, it had become as fine as the sand on the 
coast of Africa, and as the wind came on to 
blow in the evening, it commenced drifting or 
flying in perfect whirlwinds. Only those who 
have witnessed a snow-drift in this form can 
conceive what it is like. It blinds and be- 
wilders one, continually scudding round you, 
and making you white as the ground. Now 
this poor lazy fellow had made one trip with 
great difficulty, and proceeded on the next 
journey, but not returning quite so soon as it was 
thought that he ought to do, a lantern was pro- 
cured, and on issuing from the house and seeing 
the state of the night, the practical jokers began 
to get alarmed. Although, as I have said, the 
pile of wood was only about three hundred yards 



112 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

4 

distant, none dared go to it without a guide. 
This guide is not a living but an artificial one. 
A ball of twine is procured and one end made 
fast to the door-post and the other held in the 
hand of the u adventurer." One of the crew, 
with this guide, went to the pile, but when it 
was reached the missing man was not there. 
The whole of them then went with the same 
result. To attempt to trace him was out of the 
question ; to halloo was useless, as the roar of 
the wind was awful. Fortunately the man him- 
self caught a glimpse of the lantern, and made 
for it and returned home. 

It is at Christmas-day that the old hands 
make their almanacs. I can best explain how 
this is done by giving the information as I re- 
ceived it : " Why, you see," said an old fellow, 
" I've got this 'ere board, and makes my almanac 
upon that. I divides the first day after Christ- 



WINTER — CHRISTMAS. 1 1 3 

mas into four parts, and takes notes of the 
quarter the wind blows from, and makes my 
observations on the same, and calls that January 
— each quarter o' the day representing a week ; 
and I do the same up to the sixth of January, 
being twelve days after Christmas. I consider 
them there twelve days represents the twelve 
months of the year, and as I have made these 
almanacs for forty years and have always found 
them true, you can just laugh as much as you 
like." I must confess the owner of this almanac 
was always an authority as to how the summer 
would turn out, the time the coast would be 
clear of ice, what sort of fall it would be, &c. 
I visited the old man's quarters, and there I 
found, transferred from his board to the side of 
his room, sundry queer hieroglyphics which he 
said he understood well himself, and which I 
daresay he did. Coupled with the wolf s-head, 

F 3 



114 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

this primitive way of rivalling Murphy some- 
what impressed me : at all events, I have seen 
enough to know that only fools laugh at the 
simple lore of old folk. 



THE WOODS WOOD-HOUSES, ETC. 115 



CHAPTER X. 



THE WOODS — WOOD-HOUSES, ETC. 



-+&*• 



Taking advantage of a fine clear morn, I har- 
nessed my team of fifteen dogs, and started up 
the Bay of St. Lewis to inspect the work that 
was doing in the woods, where the crews had 
been located in their habitations for near three 
months. Generally they settle down about two 
miles apart. Although dreary, cold, and in a 
sense out of the world, life passes with but few 
checks ; for here, truly, man is monarch of all 
he surveys. He kills all he can, without certifi- 
cate or fear of game-laws. 

The settler, in fixing his home, selects a 



116 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

square plot of growing trees, say about eighteen 
feet ; he then cuts down the centre ones, and 
leaves the four corner ones, denuded of their 
branches to the height of about nine feet. On 
these four trees the " wall-plate " is laid, and 
upright timbers are placed side by side until 
the whole is enclosed, save a place for the door- 
way and the fireplace — the latter also answering 
the purpose of a window, as there are none in 
the sides of the house. The whole of the sides 
are caulked, or clinched, with a species of moss 
called on the coast " molldow." This caulking 
or filling-up the crevices makes the house all but 
air-tight. Next to the outer walls are the 
sleeping cabins, built precisely in the same man- 
ner as on board ship. The fireplace which, as 
I say, also admits light, is built inside, or square 
with the building, and is about nine feet long 
and four feet wide. The chimney being built 



THE WOODS — WOOD-HOUSES, ETC. 117 

entirely of wood, a " household engine "— that 
is, a bucket of water — is kept at hand, and a 
ladder kept stationed at the back in case of fire. 
It generally happens that the chimney catches 
fire two or three times a night, which, however, 
does not in anywise interfere with the sports of 
the evening. One pauses in his conversation, 
and quietly observes, " I say, Jack, the chimney 
is on fire ; just take the bucket and cup, and 
sing out when you are up.' 3 Up goes Jack, 
and when on the top of the ladder he peers 
down on the company below, and sings out, 
"Here I am — look out! 5 and down comes the 
water. These small fires are so frequent that 
they are looked upon as matters of course, and 
the young grow up to manhood and teach their 
offspring how to manage them, but no one 
thinks of teaching them how to build a less dan- 
gerous description of chimney ; but I have seen 



118 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

this dealing with remits rather than with causes 
in far more advanced communities ! 

The roof of the house is composed of dried 
bark of the birch-tree placed on rafters. The 
bark is cut about three feet long, and from say 
eighteen to twenty-four inches wide. The floor 
of the house is composed of the same material 
as the sides — small trees cut and squared, and 
placed side by side. These are called "longers,' : 
which, I suppose, is an abbreviation for " long- 
layers." To live in the backwoods with a jolly 
set of men is a jolly life enough ! There is no 
care ; there are no taxes — no debts or duns ; and 
there is ample occupation to keep the woodsman 
employed. One party of men are engaged 
cutting down trees for summer supply ; others 
are felling them for various uses, such as the 
manufacture of staves for casks and shingles 
for covering roofs of houses. A wood-shingle, 



THE WOODS — WOOD-HOUSES, ETC. 119 

I may explain, is a small piece of wood which 
answers the purpose of the slate in England. 
Another section of the crew are employed 
in the building of boats, and at one time the 
English Government gave a premium to settlers 
for building ships, but this is now a " matter of 
history." The premium, when it existed, was, 
that if a man built himself six ships, the English 
Government would fit out his seventh. I pre- 
sume Government found the seventh was some- 
thing special in size, and so the premium was 
discontinued. 

The evenings in the backwoods are spent 
merrily enough ; the nights being long, time 
must be passed somehow, and the woodsmen 
tell their stories, drink their rum, and sing their 
rough sea-choruses with the liveliest enjoyment. 
After supper there is generally a dance, the 
music of which (lacking ordinary instruments) 



1 20 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

is played upon the chin. The dancing is, of 
course, more gleesome than graceful, and both 
the male and female partners are somewhat de- 
sirous to shine in their movements. Now, 
should it happen that a traveller is passing your 
dwelling, he is sure to come in (without idle 
compliments passing) and share in the evening's 
festivities. Such is the hospitality of the country 

■ 

that everyone's house is open to everyone. 

I forgot to mention one person who generally 
figures high in the woodman's crew — I mean 
the gunner, or the man who provides the crew 
with fresh craft — the term "fresh craft" signifying 
fresh provisions. I have already stated that all 
the fresh food you can get in the woods you 
must kill or snare ; and the gunner's occupation 
is to " develop" the rabbit-paths by setting 
traps. These paths are sometimes ten or even 
fifteen miles in length, and as many as seven or 



THE WOODS — WOOD-HOUSES, ETC. 121 

eight hundred rabbits will be killed by one man 
in the course of the winter. 

Something rather ludicrous occurred during 
my sojourn in the woods. The reader must 
know that the men's axes should be very keen 
to cut and hew timber ; and for the purpose of 
sharpening these tools, grinding-stones are kept 
by the crews. Now the climate is so severe, 
that cold water is not of the least use for the 
purpose of wetting the stone, as immediately 
it goes on it becomes ice. The only plan is 
to have boiling water. A crew I was visiting 
happened to be a double crew, two parties 

having built houses adjacent to each other ; and 

« 

one morning a man came to the " missus,' 5 and 
asked for a kettle of water, with which to grind 
his axe: "An sure you can't have one, as it's 
full.' 3 " Well, then, let me have a boat's- 
kettle." < An' sure that's full." " Well," said 



122 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

the man, " if the kettle is full and the boat's- 
kettle is full, lend me one or the other of the 
saucepans. 53 " An' sure you can't have any of 
them same — they are all full !" The poor 
fellow being disappointed, and not liking to be 
idle, went to the neighbour's house, and inquired 
if he could borrow a kettle or saucepan with 
which to assist him in grinding his axe. " An' 
sure," was the bland reply from another of 
Erin's daughters, "it's only just afore you came 
that Biddy borrowed the whole of my stock for 
something she was about indoors.' : Once more 
disappointed, he takes a sly peep into the hut, 
and there he sees Biddy literally up to her eyes 
in rice ! The skipper had bought two bushels 
of rice in the fall of the year, and Biddy — not 
knowing the expanding properties of the grain — 
had put it all at once into a large saucepan, in 
order to give the crew a treat. Poor Biddy! 



THE WOODS WOOD-HOUSES, ETC. 123 

There she was — invoking all the saints in the 
calendar to give her help, as the rice boiled up 
and up, and came whitening over the pot ; and 
by the time the husband came from his daily 
toil, Biddy had rice enough to last the two 
crews for some months. It was very laughable 
to hear the poor soul singing out to her daughter, 
\ Now, Nelly, fetch me another pan. Oh ! 
Wishee ! — wishee ! The Deil's in the pot ! 
Oh, Father, have mercy! — the blessed rice has 
multiplied, and is rising like a moniment up the 
chimney ! Oh, run to the next house, and get 
me another pot, or a pan, or anything you can ! 
Haste, Nelly — for this is getting worse than the 
widdy's cruse !" 



124 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 



CHAPTEE XL 



THE ESQUIMAUX, 



From the Bay of St. Lewis I took a stroll one 
breezy, bracing morning, towards the Esquimaux 
settlement or encampment, and was agreeably 
surprised at what I saw. I found them clean, 
and apparently cheerful. The wigwam they live 
in is built in a small valley, so that when it snows 
in the winter it will be entirely covered in, A 
plurality of wives was by no means uncommon 
with them ; and, strange to say, I never heard of 
any disagreement amongst either male or female 
on that account. A denial is not known amongst 
them. The words " you shall not,' : and " I 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 125 

won't,' 5 are not in their vocabulary. Indeed I 
don't think their meaning could be explained to 
them. Some one in a family makes it known that 
he intends shooting deer on the morrow; another 
says, " I shall go ;'' another, " I shall stay here." 
Even the young ones, if they have a wish, are 
never denied its gratification ; and so they live 
in unity and peace without anger or envy. How 
often do I look back on these people in their 
cold but happy home, where there is really no sin 
but polygamy ! Theft is unknown, drunkenness 
is a stranger to them. In stature they differ 
less than any other people I know, the all but 
uniform height being about five feet six inches. 
They are capable of enduring much fatigue, are 
active in body, fleet on foot, and splendid shots 
to two or three hundred yards. While I was 
staying with them, one of the party, to prove 
his skill with the gun, performed the following 



126 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

feat : — As we were in the open country, and 
there was no tangible object to shoot at, he 
made a circle in the snow of about two feet in 
diameter, then stepping in the centre raised his 
gun perpendicular from the shoulder and fired 
in the air. After firing he stepped out of the 
ring, and in a few seconds, to my astonishment, 
the bullet came down within the circle he had 
made. He coolly remarked, " We want no 
targets to fire at ;" and if a man can hold his 
musket with that precision as to cause the ball to 
return to fall just where he stands, what need has 
he of a butt ? But the principal reason why they 
thus test their shooting is an economic one; 
not being always able to get bullets, they are 
chary of firing them away; and I have no 
doubt it is for the same reason that so many 
savage people have the " boomerang' or return- 
missile. 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 127 

The Esquimaux are fond of music and danc- 
ing, are apt mechanics, and will readily imitate 
anything they see. For example, I showed one 
a violin, and on a visit to his wigwam some 
months after, I found he had manufactured an 
instrument from the birch-tree, the strings being 
made from the seal-gut. The most curious part 
was the bow. On asking him how he managed 
to make it, he pointed, with a smile, to his 
wife's head, and sure enough I found the hair 
on the head and that on the bow corresponded. 
The women, I should add, have long coarse 
black hair, kept remarkably clean, and gene- 
rally plaited and strung with particoloured 
beads, which — like the modern hair-nets — have 
a pretty appearance. Not that the women 
themselves are pretty ; nay, they are the very 
opposite, and appear all to belong to one family. 
Indeed so great is the resemblance one to an- 



128 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

other (and may not this arise, as with other 
simple people, from their common habits and 
customs — from their lack of individuality ?) that 
it was some time before I could distinguish Tom 
from Jack. Like the settlers on the coast, they 
are very superstitious, and are easily worked 
upon. They have an extraordinary sight, seeing 
objects distinctly two or three miles distant, and 
telling if they are deer, or foxes, or what not. 
Another sense they have most keenly developed 
is that of smell. I have often travelled with them, 
and on seeing marks in the snow, they would 
immediately sniff it, and say what animal it was ; 
and if it had passed within twelve hours, would 
say to an hour when it had passed ; and — 
strangest of all — if the animal was in chase 
or being chased. 

We get some fine sunshiny days on the coast 
in winter as well as in summer, and should the 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 129 

weather be calm, you may have an easy day's 
sport in the woods, and that without any expen- 
diture of powder and shot. This is the mode 
you must adopt : Cut a stick some six feet long, 
at the end tie a piece of twine, with a noose or 
running knot ; take your game-bag with you, 
and proceed to a grove of firs, examine the 
same, and amongst the lower branches you will 
see the spruce partridge, perfectly careless of 
your presence, airing himself in the sum Walk 
noiselessly to the tree and place the noose near 
your victim^ and with the grace and urbanity of 
a French criminal, he will quietly poke his head 
through and allow himself to be executed. The 
death is momentary, as the bird strangles him- 
self; and as in so doing he makes no noise to 
disturb his companions, you may fill your bag in 
a short space of time. 

The sport is very different if the wind blows ; 

G 



130 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

the birds then are difficult to get at — the noose 
is useless — and it requires a practised shot to 
kill them properly, as if struck anywhere else 
than through the head, they are not eatable ; 
tasting bitter as the spruce. These partridges 
do not turn white in winter. They are much 
like the grouse of this country, and are quite as 
good eating when properly shot. The white 
partridge is, as regards habits and food, the 
reverse of the former ; and affords at all times 
exciting sport. After a heavy fall of light snow, 
say to the depth of six or eight feet, if the wea- 
ther be calm and the sun bright, you may observe 
numbers of these delicious birds disporting them- 
selves in the snow. I say in the snow, as from 
the intense cold and fineness of its quality, they 
take a dive in it some eighteen inches under 
the surface, as if it were water, and rise eight or 
ten feet from their starting point. This it is 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 131 

which makes the sport exciting, as when the 
bird dives, he is just as likely to take a right as 
a left angle, or to go straight ahead as to take 
either; and you have to be quick, both of eye 
and trigger, to hit him at the very moment he 
reappears. These birds feed on the buds of 
the birch-tree, which give them a peculiarly 
fine flavour ; indeed the crop of the white 
partridge, when it is cut open, affords quite a 
"bouquet." 

In extreme severe winters the Esquimaux — 
from whom the partridges led me — are often 
hard driven for food ; then the toil to procure 
it sometimes results in the death of the hunter, 
or " watcher." Here is a touching instance in 
illustration. Let me, however, premise by say- 
ing, the seals which are not migratory may be 
found all through the winter in the different 
small bays, and may be caught by stratagem 

G 2 



132 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

and patience. In a former chapter I have said 
that this animal, like the beaver, is of social 
habits, and lives in communities. But one 
thing is essential for the life of the larger sort, 
and that is a constant supply of fresh air. For 
the purpose of obtaining this necessary element, 
holes are kept open by the seals throughout 
the winter, and are called by the Esquimaux 
" blowing-holes." 

On a fine cold day you may see the seal 
basking in the sun near his hole with perhaps 
one or two Esquimaux warily watching his 
movements ; for should the seal hear the slightest 
noise, down he goes to the waters beneath. But 
should the surface of the hole have become 
frozen during the afternoon's nap, he has no 
time to open it before his pursuer is upon him, 
and then he becomes an easy prize. The mode the 
seal adopts when he discovers he is frozen out of 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 133 

his element is curious in the extreme. Finding 
himself disturbed and the means of retreat cut 
off, he stands as it were on his head, and, using 
the fore-fins or phrippers as a motive power, 
whirls himself round at an inconceivable speed. 
The mouth being open during the rotary 
motion, acts somehow as an immense auger, 
and soon penetrates the five or six inches of 
new-formed ice on the surface of the blowing- 
hole. 

Now — coming to my narrative— it happened 
that an Esquimaux family were hard pressed for 
food, and for some time the weather was so 
boisterous that none dared move out. Fortu- 
nately a lull came, and with it sunshine, and then 
away went the watchers to examine the blow- 
holes in the bay, in the hopes of returning in 
the evening with a prize. On these excursions 
the watchers are provided with a small stool to 



134 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

sit on. Besides this they have a sharp spear, 
made of bone, arrow-shaped, and inserted in the 
top of a stave about four to six feet long. 
Attached to the spear is a long cord, manu- 
factured from the skin of the seal. The end is 
generally made fast, if on land, round the body 
of the hunter, and if on the water, to the kyack, 
or canoe. 

Now it chanced that one of these watchers, a 
woman, had observed a monster seal for some 
hours ; and, feeling assured the hole had frozen so 
that she could reach the spot before the seal could 
bore through the ice, she ran forward, dart in 
hand ; but, observing her movements, the animal 
was on his head in «a moment and turning round 
like a spin-top. The poor Esquimaux hastened 
up and plunged the dart through the seal's skin, 
but unfortunately he had just finished boring, 
and down he went, with the dart firmly fixed in 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 135 

his hide. The act was so sudden the poor crea- 
ture had no time to disengage the cord round 
her waist, and was drawn across the hole with 
such frightful force that she was doubled up as 
it were in a funnel, without the power of 
moving, the seal acting as a dead weight on 
her body. When her companions came up, 
they had the sickening sight of beholding her 
broken corpse, attached to which was the 
monster seal, still plunging for liberty. After 
much toil they disentangled the corpse, and 
killed the animal, — a sorry recompense for the 
loss of a sister. 

Such are some of the hardships these poor 
people undergo. The youngest are sent out 
trapping or catching furs, and begin a hard hand- 
to-hand battle of life when other children are just 
sent to school. 

The burial of the Esquimaux is an interesting 



136 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABKADOR LIFE. 

ceremony. A heap of stones is gathered ; the 
H kyack,' : and all the departed's hunting imple- 
ments, are collected and arranged in order by 
his side, with a supply of food, a pipe, tobacco, 
&c. When the preparations are complete, he is 
taken to the pile, everything is placed in order 
around him, and then all is carefully covered 
over to the height of about four feet, apertures 
being left here and there to admit air. The 
grief of his friends is calm but touching. The 
Esquimaux, like the Greenlanders, believe in 
the immortality of the soul, and that the 
dead go to the land of spirits, and there enjoy 
the felicity of hunting from age to age, while 
the body remains behind and moulders in the 
dust. 

The women have seldom more than two or 
three children, and these at the intervals of two 
or three years. They are very fond of their 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 137 

offspring, and carry them in a hood on their 
back wherever they go, suckling them for two or 
three years. These children are quiet, and, as I 
have said, never know a denial. They are 
brought up without fear, and, I may remark, 
without vice. 

The people are very jealous of the resting- 
places of their departed relatives, and make 
frequent visits to them to see if the tomb has 
been disturbed. Whenever they find it has, 
great is their tribulation, as they consider some 
dire mishap is about to fall on the family. ,1 
know of more than one Englishman who visited 
some tombs, and finding only the blanched bones, 
took two or three skulls awav, much to the 
terror of the Esquimaux, who, I believe, could 
they have identified the culprits, would ■ have 
slaughtered them on the spot. Strange to say, 
during my sojourn on the coast I rarely 

a 3 






138 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

heard of any sickness among these people. 
Neither insanity nor idiocy is known. The 
women live to a greater age than the men, the 
latter generally dying at the age of from fifty 
to sixty, and the former at from seventy to 
eighty. 

The Loon, a large fowl of the diving class, 
furnishes them with covering instead of blankets : 
the skins are dried and sewn together, and are 
impervious to wet. In fact the whole of the 
clothing made by these people has this same 
quality. As fashion is not studied, a suit of 
clothes or a cassock and trousers are supposed 
to last ten or fifteen years. The dress of the 
female much resembles that of the male, only it 

is more elongated in the back. 

•^ 

In winter their principal food is the seal, 
which is sometimes eaten raw. They are also 
fond of the oil as a sauce for other dainties, 



THE ESQUIMAUX. 139 

amongst which are the entrails of the deer. 
This boiled with seal or train oil is a favourite 
dish with them. Truly, there is no accounting 
for tastes ! 



140 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 



CHAPTEE XII. 



ADVENTURES — FOX-TRAPPING 



I remember that on returning from my visit 
to the Esquimaux encampment, I found, on 
reaching the landwash, where I and my party 
intended to cross to our station, the sea heaving 
in from the broad Atlantic. It was a strange 
sight — the ice rolling like the waves of the sea, 
but still too thick and tough to be broken. It 
withstood the force of the under-rolling waves 
that night. The dog appears endowed with a 
keener sense of danger than man, for on urging 
ours—to the number of fourteen — to take the 
ice, they one and all lay down and refused to 



ADVENTURES — FOX-TRAPPING. 141 

move. Of course we had the sense to be guided 
by them, and return along the shore to a nar- 
rower part of the bay, so as to cross in safety. 
After some difficulty, and a walk of ten miles, 
we reached the mainland, and found shelter for 
the night in a woodman's hut. Early in the 
morning I started alone, leaving my man and 
dogs to come after me, following my track 
through the snow. I had gone about five miles, 
when crossing the river-head, or extreme end of 
a small cove, I found the sea had increased in 
violence, and the ice had commenced breaking 
adrift; with some risk I crossed to the opposite 
side, when on looking towards the point from 
which I had started, I found there was a space 
of some feet of clear water, with the sea already 
breaking over the beach. Communication I knew 
was now cut off from the dogs in that direction, 
and they would have to make a circuit of at least 



142 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

ten miles before they could reach me. About 
mid-day I lost sight of the sun, and, to my con- 
sternation, it began blowing, while the breeze 
was accompanied w 7 ith a regular snow-storm and 
drift. To have remained stationary would have 
been death. Everv now and then I looked at 
my compass to direct me to an island about a 
mile distant from the one on which I resided ; 
and, thanks to Providence ! I reached it just 
before dark. I then made an attempt to cross 
to my own island, but it was only a faint effort, 
as immediately I ventured on an ice-pan a sea 
hove in and sent me and the pan about five feet 
on the rocks. 

The island I was on was inhabited in the 
summer months by fishermen who migrated from 
Newfoundland to prosecute the cod-fishery, and 
returned in the fall to their homes to sell their 
hard earning for cash to the Spaniards and 



ADVENTURES — FOX-TRAPPING. 143 

others who resort there for the purpose of pur- 
chasing for their own markets. True the houses 
of these fishermen, from the primitive way in 
which they were built, afforded but little shelter, 
being, for the most part, unroofed. But ne- 
cessity is the mother of invention (as I have 
found perhaps as frequently as the reader has 
heard), and, knowing all the huts well, I selected 
the best — though bad was the best — and set to 
work to make it habitable. The roof had fallen 
in with the weight of snow, but in a neighbouring 
stage or shed for curing fish I found a quantity 
of dry spruce-boughs, with several empty casks 
of large dimensions, with one head out. I made 
a bed in one of these with the boughs, and placed 
the closed head to windward, and thought I was 
about to sleep, imagining the sledge and dogs 
would soon overtake me. I must inform the 
reader that when in the morning I had quitted 



144 RECOLLECTIONS OP LABRADOR LIFE. 

my companions, I had left everything behind 
me, even my matchbox, gunpowder, tobacco, 
and drinking-flask. Into the kennel I had 
prepared I now crawled, but I soon found my 
blood begin to chill, while a pressing sensation 
came across my temples, with a coldness across 
my chest. Fortunately I knew the remedy for 
the latter, which was to tighten my belt ; and so, 
as soon as I found the pain begin, I drew the belt 
tighter and tighter around me. Fortunately I 
had a good fur cap, but from the fatigue of the 
day, and from having perspired freely, it became 
cold and made me feel uneasv. I knew now 
if I slept I should never awake. Luckily for 
me I had two pocket-handkerchiefs, one silk 
and the other cotton. I took my cap off, and 
tied the cotton one over my head and face, 
and then I bound the silk one over it. This, I 
have no doubt, saved my life. My time was 



ADVENTURES — FOX-TRAPPING. 145 

employed the whole night in walking backward 
and forward, and every now and then I found 
myself striking at some object, which I fancied 
had entered the shed, when, my fist coming in 
contact with a cask or post, I was suddenly 
called back to consciousness. Thus I passed 
fourteen long and dreary hours, and when day 
broke it was beautiful bright weather, with the 
thermometer at fifteen to twenty degrees below 
zero ! As I felt hungry I again tightened my 
belt and felt relieved. I visited the spot where 
I attempted to cross the night before, and found 
the ice all gone, and the sea smooth as glass 
to the opposite island, a distance of about three 
quarters of a mile. The w T ind, having shifted in 
the night to the north-west, had sent the sea 
down, but had brought intense cold. To have 
attempted to retrace my steps from where I 
started the day before would have been madness. 



146 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

as I could not have borne the cutting blast. I 
said to myself, " The ravens are now plentiful 

on the coast, and ,' and then I prayed to 

the Father of all. About noon I fancied I 
heard the bark of dogs, and, on going on a rise 
of the island, I had the great joy of seeing the 
whole team bounding like mad things, about a 
quarter of a mile off. Soon they gained up to 
me, and I asked my man for something to eat 
and drink. " Lor bless your soul, sir," was his 
reply, u we have been out all night in the bush, 
only we had a fire, and all I have are a couple 
of biscuits and a drop of rum in the bottle, which 
you must not yet touch." 

The first thing we now did was to kindle a 
fire, by knocking one house down for firewood. 
After boiling some water, I had a small drink of 
rum with some water and part of a biscuit. 
Having now my tobacco, a good fire, and a com- 



ADVENTURES — POX-TRAPPING. 147 

panion, the night (although I was still all but 
in the open air), was not so dreary as the last. 
On the morning of the third day we proceeded 
to the landwash to see if the ice would bear. 
The dogs refused to cross, and we w r ere com- 
pelled to remain until afternoon, when they 
crossed without fear, and — although the whole 
journey was but ten miles — we arrived at home 
about four o'clock of the third day of our start- 
ing. Our friends anticipated what had hap- 
pened, and had everything prepared for our 
reception. On my nearing the Establishment I 
was met by two of the old hands, who congra- 
tulated me on my narrow escape, and tendered 
cautions touching the danger of eating too much 
at first, which, they assured me, might bring on 
inflammation. I took their advice, and profited 
by it, as I never suffered the least inconveni- 
ence from my night in the snow ; and, moreover, 



148 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

it taught me never again to travel alone in a 
wild and dreary country. After my long fasting 
I was never better in my life, and on the third 
day I felt as if I could have walked any distance 
without feeling fatigued. When the Esquimaux 
are pinched with hunger, they adopt the ex- 
pedient of bracing themselves every time they 
feel it coming on, and I am told they will live 
many days with only a small quantity of food 
and a little drink. From abstinence the Esqui- 
maux hardly know any of the ills which flesh is 
heir to in our over-feeding civilized communities. 
The only complaint they suffer from is blindness 
at an advanced age in the left eye ; the females 
are especial victims to this affliction. I don't 
recollect meeting one over sixty years of age 
who had not lost the sight of the left eye. This 
prevalence of blindness doubtless arises from 
the glare of the sun on the ice in the spring of 



ADVENTURES — FOX-TRAPPING. 149 

the year, when millions of discs are formed in a 
single focus to the eye ; the effect is, that the 
" beholder' becomes suddenly blind for some 
days. The remedy applied is simple, but especi- 
ally painful : a tub of snow is procured and the 
patient has his or her head enveloped in a hood, 
which falls down and reaches round the edge of 
the tub. A shot is then made white hot and 
thrown into the snow ; instantly a cloud of steam 
is engendered, the film before the eye (caused by 
the action of the snow) bursts, the humour is 
scaldingly discharged, and the sufferer receives 
immediate relief. Of course the patient is kept 
in a dark room for some days, so that the tone 
of the nerve may be re-established. 

Shortly after my return home I began to 
devote myself to my fox-traps. It is a hard 
employment, but exciting and healthy. Some 
fine morning away you trudge with half-a-dozen 



150 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

large iron fox-traps on your gun, across some five 
or six miles of the most barren part of the island, 
and these you set on the land, elevated so that 
they shall not be covered in with the snow — each 
about one mile apart from the next. Great care 
must be taken in setting them so as to disguise 
the place, which must look as if no traps were 
there. Two holes are cut diagonally with each 
other, and in each of these you place a trap 
(having first tied the bait under it), and neatly 
cover it over. In this you cannot be too care- 
ful, as if the fox saw the least sign of iron he 
would know it was " unnatural ; to the place, and 
leave it alone. Sometimes a fox will dig in the 
immediate neighbourhood of a trap, with the 
hopes of undermining it, but in this operation — 
clever and characteristic as it is — he is generally 
caught by the under-jaw. One day I found 
a fox in this situation quite alive, having but 



ADVENTURES — FOX-TRAPPING. 151 

just been trapped. He had displayed great 
cunning in his mining operations, but just as 
he thought he was about walking off with his 
prize, " click : went the spring, and he was 
captured. 

The skin of the fox being more or less valu- 
able, care is taken in killing him so that it shall 
be injured as little as may be. The common 
practice is to throw yourself across the body, 
seize him by the throat, and press the knee on 
his chest ; and then, when you find the heart cease 
to beat, to strip poor Reynard at your leisure. 
This smothering process keeps the skin free 
from blood, the stains of which would lessen its 
value. Besides the fox, chance may throw a 
martin in your trap, or it may be a weasel — the 
rich ermine of which is rather scarce on the 
coast. 

After these daily excursions, the evenings are 



152 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

generally spent in some cheerful way — mostly 
in telling stories of home and youth, as if to 
refresh the bleak Present with a peep of the 
ever-roseate Past. 



SPRING, SPRING-DUCK S, ETC. 153 



CHAPTEE XIII. 



SPRING, SPRING-DUCKS, ETC. 



■+o+- 



It frequently happens on the coast that in mid- 
winter we have what is termed a " silver-thaw/ 5 
when it rains and freezes at the same time. 
The wind is then generally from the east, the 
weather is boisterous, and numbers of birds of 
two kinds — the one kind lean and the other fat 
and well-favoured — come whirring down upon 
us. The former is the ptarmigan, a bird of the 
grouse kind. It generally weighs about a pound 
— seldom, if ever, more. After the long journey 
these ptarmigans must have had, they arrive in 
poor condition, and are scarce worth the trouble 

H 



154 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

of killing. It is not so with the other sort — a 
delicious, small but plump bird, called on the 
coast the "snow-bird/' and in England the 
ortolan,, Of these I have caught as many as 
two hundred a day. They are, even in Labra- 
dor, one perfect mass of fat, but are not of an 
over-rich flavour. They are, as in England, 
about the size of our bullfinches, and I have had 
as many as a hundred in a pie at one time, 
which beats the " four-and-twenty blackbirds.' 5 

These birds are always the forerunners' — 
generally, in one sense, the bringers — of rough, 
stormy weather, when the seals again make 
their appearance, and when some fresh sport is 
unexpectedly afforded to those who are fond of 

it. With an easterly wind the weather is 

*/ 

generally thick, and the sun is obscured. The 
temperature, too, undergoes very rapid changes : 
at midday it will thaw and in the evening freeze, 



SPRING, SPRING-DUCKS, ETC. 155 

so that the ground becomes dangerous to walk 
on. We generally wear what on the coast are 
called " creepers," which are made in the shape 
of a cross with thick " starts/' and which are 
much the same as cricketers wear in England. 
Many a fall have I had over a rock during the 
prevalence of a " silver-thaw,' ; and only had 
Providence and the creepers to thank that I 
have not been seriously injured. After the 
thaw, bright sunshine appears again, with a 
cold, cutting, north-west wind, " bracing up the 
nerves, ' : as the fishermen phrase it, " to the 
tune of ' No Doctor Wanted. 5 " Plenty of 
exercise, an ample supply of good plain food, 
and an all but raw-edged appetite, keep the 
medicine-chest well closed. The only time du- 
ring my residence that I was particular, even as 
regarded extra clothing, was in the spring of the 
year, when the ice began thawing. Then I 

H 2 



156 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

took to flannel, which, as summer came on, was 
left off, and the ordinary skin-dress resumed. 

The spring of the year — which the reader 
will be kind enough to imagine has dawned 
upon the coast — brings on a busy time. The 
pounds in which the seals caught in the fall of 
last year were placed, are opened and exposed 
to the heat of the midday sun, so that the skin 
may be thawed from the fat of the animal. 
When sufficiently thawed, skinning takes place, 
and the most expert and strong-armed men are 
employed for the purpose. Under favourable 
circumstances, one man will take off about fif- 
teen skins a day. The fat is then removed and 
placed in a store for the purpose of being cut up 
into small pieces, so as to be easily melted and 
converted into seal-oil. The operation is thus 
performed : a man takes what is termed a 
" rand," or large piece of fat, just as it happens 



SPRING, SPRING-DUCKS, ETC. 157 



V 



to be cut off the animal, and, placing it on a 
table, sticks a steel behind the knife, and cuts 
away in the same manner as is done in England 
when suet is cut up for a pudding. When this is 
done, the process of what is termed " rendering 
out" the oil is commenced. On large establish- 
ments, from four to six or eight large iron 
boilers are erected in brickwork ; and in these 
the fat is placed, the fires are lighted, and, when 
the whole boils up, the manufacture is complete. 
Great pains must be taken not to allow the 
mass to boil too much, as over-boiling decreases 
and discolours the oil. When properly "done/ 5 
the oil should be of a pale straw-colour. Many 
a savoury dish is cooked in this boiling oil. 
One — a great favourite with the settlers- — is the 
same as that cooked on board the South Sea 
whalers, and known as the " South Sea tea- 
cake." Here is the recipe : take of flour and 



158 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

water enough to bind the former in a stiff paste, 
then consolidate it into the consistency of dough 
with brown sugar ; when this is done, roll it out 
into thin pieces, like wafers, and cut according 
to your taste. Throw the pieces on the boiling 
oil, and they immediately swell up like an egg ; 
and, except that there is no egg in the business, 
are much like the cakes made in the island of 
Jersey, called u merveilles." 

After taking out as much oil as possible, and 
placing it in a tank, the remainder in the boiler, 
called u scrunchens," is collected, and undergoes 
the process of being pressed with a strong screw, 
just as tallow-chandlers press the fat after the 
sundry substances collected by them, from which 
to manufacture candles, have been melted down. 
When sufficiently cool, the oil is placed in casks 
for early shipment to England in the summer, 
or, should a quantity have been " caught," a 



SPRING, SPRING-DUCKS, ETC. 159 

ship is at once despatched with the cargo. Talk- 
ing of ships, I may briefly mention — and through- 
out, let me parenthetically add, I have studiously 
cultivated brevity — that, during my residence in 
Labrador, I " commanded" a schooner of forty 
tons ; and although a young navigator, I cannot 
help feeling proud when I remember that for 
five years I skirted the coast without a casualty. 
I could cull some adventures from my " Log/ 
but none of them sufficiently special or in- 
teresting to be chronicled. 

Collecting the oil in the spring-time is a 
pleasant occupation, and affords fine opportuni- 
ties for viewing the constant changes but peren- 
nial loveliness of Nature. The frozen tide 
thaws and twinkles in the sun, the snow gradu- 
ally disappears, and here and there a green 
streak of vegetation may be marked ; and soon 
the beautiful wild waterfowl dot the water. 



160 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

The bird called the Hound — a graceful fowl, 
rather larger than a teal— is very abundant. 
These birds migrate to the north in large flocks 
in the spring, and as they fly make a continual 
noise, than which nothing can more resemble 
the cry of a pack of beagles when in chase. 
When and how they return south is not known 
for certain. They make pretty points in the 
landscape, and eat well in a pie. 

The mornings, now that spring is breaking, 
are for the most part fine and clear, with a per- 
fect Italian sky. Not a cloud is to be seen ; all 
is beautiful and blue and bright. Now begins 
the slaughter of the ducks going northward. 
At early dawn about the middle of May four or 
five men repair to some small island near the 
mainland, and there erect what is termed a 
Gaze, which is like a small fort cut out of the 
solid ice close to the landwash. Immediately 



SPRING, SPRING-DUCKS, ETC. 161 

the ice clears off the coast, only for twenty or 
thirty feet, clouds of ducks wend their way from 
the south to breed amongst the numerous islands 
on the coast ; and these are popped at from the 
gaze as they pass the point of land. 

We consider it a poor morning's work if we 
do not kill (say for four guns) at least one hun- 
dred to one hundred and twenty ducks. The 
shooting begins very early, and generally ends 
about ten in the morning, when we amuse our- 
selves chasing the crippled birds, which is more 
exciting sport than may be at first imagined. 
The punt loaded with our game, homeward we 
hie for breakfast; and a jolly meal it is, the 
allowance being a duck a man. We do not 
take the trouble to roast them, but, cutting them 
up in joints, we fry them ; the livers, gizzards, 
and hearts being served up afterwards as an 
extra dish. Then w r e take copious draughts of 

H 3 



162 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

drink, christened on the coast " callibogus," — a 
mixture of rum and spruce-beer, " more of 
the former and less of the latter/' — -when the 
meal is over. Those employed in killing the 
birds assist the cook in divesting them of their 
feathers, which is done in the expeditious man- 
ner which I have previously noticed. The 
time allowed is a minute a duck. The wing 
and tail feathers are, to describe the process in 
full, first drawn, and a large iron boiler being 
placed on the fire, and the water made steaming 
hot, and kept so, one duck after another is 
thrust therein, and is just sufficiently scalded to 
admit of the feathers being rubbed off in a mass. 
The ducks, having been unfledged, are packed 
away in casks, and salted for summer use. The 
feathers are dried, and sometimes sent home; 
but not often. Yet such is the closeness of the 
feathers on the eider duck that it only takes 



SPRING, SPRING-DUCKS, ETC. 163 

seven birds for one pound of feathers. The 
duck-shooting lasts until the middle of June, 
v and it would be difficult to compute the large 
number of birds which are killed in that period. 
The weight of one of them is, without the 
feathers and when full grown, about five pounds. 
The gun employed for their destruction is of 
large dimensions, and, being used as a shoulder- 
gun, punishes the sportsman fearfully. After a 
good morning's work, when the birds seemed in 
a hurry and whizzed past quickly, I have been 
so bruised in the shoulder as to require a pad 
stuffed with feathers before I could venture to 
fire the first gun the next day ; but immediately 
the sport became exciting the pad was thrown 
away, and all pain seemed for the time to 
cease. 

In the middle of the day the birds take their 
meal on the shoals in the neighbourhood of the 



164 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

small islands. Consequently during the time of 
their repast we are idle, and take a walk to 
some hill, where we crane our necks and strain 
our eyes seaward, trying if we can spy any sail 
in sight from Old England. How many false 
visions appear ! One of the most remarkable phe- 
nomena of the coast is the mirage, or fog-loom, 
when objects take monstrous sizes, and when 
mere cockboats expand to three-deckers ! You 
see a ship with her spars towering, as it were, 
high into the air, but gradually, as she breaks 
through the bank of fog, she dwindles down to 
a small craft of some twenty or five-and-twenty 
tons ! Mock-suns are very common on the 
coast. I have seen as many as three of these 
luminaries shining at once. This mostly hap- 
pens in winter, just on a change of weather. 

Returning from one of my duck-shooting 
excursions, I was informed that our stock of 



SPRIXG, SPRING-DUCKS, ETC. 165 

flour was nearly all destroyed by the rats, which, 
always numerous and troublesome on the coast, 
had eaten into no less than six barrels. In 
some they were so plentiful that they caused the 
casks to move. 

Rats are a perfect pest in Labrador. They 
eat up our food (fortunately, on the occasion I 
have mentioned, there was no fear of famine, as 
it was in the spring of the year), and they seem 
to delight in destroying the fishermen's nets. 
They are very prolific, and I myself have 
counted no less than seventeen in one net. The 
dogs are trained to kill them, and a premium of 
a small portion of rum is given to the men for 
every rat killed, which on large establishments 
amounts to something considerable. In the 
course of a year I have had tallied, or counted, 
as many as seven hundred, which cost for kill- 
ing nearly twenty- two gallons of rum. The 



166 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

same rat cannot be brought a second time for 
the premium, as on being produced at the store 
the tail is cut off and destroyed. 

The whole routine of last year is now carried 

or 

on. I should like to describe the breaking up 
of the ice, but it is beyond my power. In the 
different bays are brooks, and in these brooks 
are " rattles/' as they are termed, or, more 
properly speaking, " falls,' 1 though none are of 
any great magnitude. The nearest to our 
establishment was ten miles off; and as the thaw 
came on in the spring, which of course swelled 
the brook, great curiosity was manifested by 
many as to the time the fall would burst or 
blow up from the pressure behind. 

Although but small, it had its influence on 
the bay. It was about twenty feet high by 
some forty feet wide, and on its bursting set the 
whole of the bay ice free. It is impossible for 



SPRING, SPRING-DUCKS, ETC. 167 

the pen to convey any adequate notion of the 
bursting of this fall. Think of some tens of 
thousands of tons of water pent up behind a 
barrier of ice some twelve to fourteen feet thick, 
and think of the whole mass bursting through 
in an instant ! The loudest thunder is light by 
comparison. Then comes the confusion, the 
mad whirl of water, the swelling and roar of the 
brook as a hundred small and rapid streams are 
melted, and pour into its one common channel. 
For days the noise is deafening, and the boldest 
men grow strangely nervous. Every one now 
has to work hard. If you have built your 
house too near the sea-shore, it is just as likely 
you may find the habitation moving seawards 
like a Noah's Ark. Large rafts of timber may 
be seen floating off in the same direction ; in 
fact when the ice moves it bears off everything 
which is upon it. The rush of water from the 



168 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

brook brings down masses of earth with trees 
still in them, and these, too, go floating away 
upon the ice. Everything moves in one calm, 
seemingly resistless manner and direction. 

The bay once clear, the woodman returns to 
the coast to resume his summer toil. A few 
are left for a week or two longer to procure the 
rinds, or bark of trees. Their work is called 
"rinding." One length only of bark of about 
six feet is taken off the lower part of the 
trunk of the tree. The chief use of rinds 
is to cover the roofs of houses and the piles 
of fish. 

It is now, as the spring literally " bursts ' 

upon us, that retreating winter shows us his 

victims. Let me give an illustration. Some 

one has been out shooting, and he returns 

i 
with the melancholy news that a poor fellow has 

been found dead and frozen under a cliff*. It is 



SPRING, SPRING-DUCKS, ETC. 169 

the corpse of some one who had wandered from 
home in the winter, lost himself, been overtaken 
by a snowdrift, and perished from cold and 
starvation. I was generally requested to read 
the Burial Service over these remains, which, as 
there was no clergyman at hand, I could not 
refuse to do. 

One of the pleasantest sports of this season 
is exploring the island for eggs and eider-down. 
The eider-duck makes a rough nest on the 
ground, generally between two rocks, and depo- 
sits four to five eggs, sometimes more. An 
island being selected where they are known to 
resort in large numbers, it is reached at night- 
fall; the nests are visited, eggs destroyed, and 
the down taken away. We then retire to the 
leeside, and remain the night. On the morrow 
we again visit the nests, and find them newly 
lined and a new-laid egg in each nest. This 



170 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

visit generally satisfies us, as from the quantity of 
birds on such an island we are enabled to collect 
a thousand or more eggs and an immense quan- 
tity of down. 



FOXES — TALES — SEA TRACES. 



171 



CHAPTEE XIV. 



FOXES — TALES— SEA — TRACKS. 



■*<>*- 



Should all the foxes not have migrated from 
the islands to the main land, your sport for eggs 
and birds on such islands will be barren of re- 
sults, as they destroy the former and catch the 
latter. The capture is easy enough, as the duck 
sits very close, and can even be caught by hand 
if you go " down wind ' on them. In visiting 
my fox-traps in the winter I frequently observed 
the trail of the fox consisted of feathers ; and 
knowing, or fancying there were no birds about 
in the winter, which the fox could get at, I was 
much puzzled for a time, but this spring threw 



172 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

a light on the subject. I found the small water- 
fowl, known to sailors as Mother Carey's Chicken, 
to others as the Stormy Petrel, in a dormant 
state, in a regular burrow, well feathered, and in 
good condition. 

The discovery was made by mere accident. 
I had an excellent dog, with a fine nose — "a 
nose," as one of the skippers put it, "that 
would do credit to any health officer " — and 
finding him digging away at a burrow, I fancied 
I had a prize in the shape of a litter of young 
foxes, and perhaps the Vixen herself. So I 
signalled my companion, and we went to w 7 ork, 
one holding a net and the other digging; the 
dog, with his tail wagging, wdth a subdued 
enthusiasm, anxiously awaited the result of our 
labour, ready to pounce on any animal that 
might make its appearance. The Labrador 
dog, let me remark, is a bold fellow, and, 



FOXES — TALES' — SEA — TRACKS. 173 

when well taught, understands, almost as well 
as any Christian biped, what you say to him. 
We were much disappointed with our labour, for, 
instead of a fox, we found about a dozen of these 
stinking birds. On their exposure to the sun^ 
however, we were astonished to find animation 
soon returned, and most of them sought their 
native element — the water. I took some home 
with me, but they refused any sort of food, and 
died in a few days. The discovery of these 
birds had solved the problem — where did the 
foxes feed in the winter-time ? 

Now you may see animation once more along 
the coast, or at least in the bav. The home- 
ward ship came in this year— for I have a par- 
ticular year in view — as if by magic. We are 
fast approaching the middle of June and yet 
there are no Newfoundlanders on the coast, and 
the fish have not yet made their appearance 



174 RECOLLECTIONS OP LABRADOR LIFE. 

owing to the jam of ice in the offing. This 
gives us more time for sport, for another cruize 
or two up the bay, to gather eggs or rinds, or to 
try and secure one of the large seals for boot- 
bottoms for the ensuing winter, and to shoot a 
mountain-cat or two. These animals are not 
like the fox ; if left on an island there they must 
remain, for they have a dread of water, and, 
never taking to it, fall an easy prey to the 
sportsman. But I have known a fox swim 
nearly a mile, and on one occasion I captured 
Reynard about half a mile on his journey to 
land. 

The summer of this year I was much em- 
ployed in coasting,* and mixed much with the 
Irish. I heard many a queer yarn from them, 

* And, by the way, in various ways. For instance, I simply, 
but successfully, set a poor boy's broken leg, and made a will for 
one of the old hands. Thus was I captain, surgeon, and lawyer, 
in a single year. 



FOXES — TALES — SEA— TRACKS. 175 

related in their rich, humorous style. After the 
toil of the day is over, and the last meal is 
taken, no matter how tired a man may be, 
there are generally dancing and singing. I 
must say the Irish are indeed a happy, care- 
less race ! Wherever I have met them, I have 
invariably found them the same cheerful, mer- 
curial set. 

Being wind-bound in one of the northern 
harbours I met with a party similarly situated, 
and as we could not dance in a large open craft 
we u settled round ' with pipes and tobacco, and 
each volunteered a yarn. As none of these 
yarns, however, have any connexion with life in 
Labrador, but nearly all related to the land of 
St. Patrick, the reader would not thank me for 
"padding' this little work with them. The 
story-telling faculty, however, which the Irish 
possess is, I may say, little less than a blessing 



176 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

to those who, as it were, are cut off from the 
world, and all but buried amongst the snows of 
Labrador. It whiles away the time, cheers the 
spirits, carries one back to the mother-country, 
and makes us " muse, and dream, and live again 
in memory/' At the fireside, or under the clear 
cold stars, the Story Teller is attentively listened 
to and loudly applauded, his pipe re-kindled for 
him, and his flask re-filled. 

While afloat on a coasting and trading voyage, 
I visited some old friends in St. Michael's Bay, 
and had the satisfaction of hearing the simple 
folks sing some of Watts' Hymns, copies of 
which I had left with them on a previous occa- 
sion. And let me remark at this point, that 
wherever the Gospel (without the trading mis- 
sionary) has dawned upon the coast, the people 
— even the Esquimaux — have embraced it with 
cheerfulness. Indeed there is in this wild land 



FOXES — TALES — SEA — TRACKS. ' 1 77 

a silent happiness which many a man and woman 
in England might envy : solitude without ab- 
solute loneliness, days of ease without care, 
nights of pleasure without parade. Thus year 
after year rolls on until death removes the so- 
journer, when, as his life has been spent in toil 
and labour, Eternal Rest falls upon him as a 
soft, sweet dream. 

On leaving St. Michael's Bay I intended to 
return to the establishment " at home.' J But 
man is not his own master. It was a lovely 
morning when we left the bay, laden with the 
staple commodity of the coast, but we had not 
proceeded far when indications of a storm were 
observed in the eastern horizon. What should 
we do ? 

We were just then on a bold shore without 
any harbour under our lee. One of the old 
hands advised me to give the craft an offing, 



178 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE, 

as he said, should the storm come easterly we 
could not weather the Cape, while, by putting 
her head off for an hour or so, we could easily 
manage it. Well the u schooner's " head was 
put to the eastward, both fore and aft sails were 
close-reefed, and the cargo was battened down ; 
being first covered with tarpaulins, and then 
secured to the side of the schooner. Away we 
went under snug canvas, and for a time continued 
our course leisurely, but suddenly a puff came, 
carried away our foremast about ten feet from 
the deck, or carl ins of the mast, and then the 
wind abruptly shifted to the south-west, and a 
strong gale arose. A heavy sea was also running 
at the time. None on board were prepared for 
this, as from the sudden shift of wind, instead 
of being well to windward, as we expected to 
have been, we were now dead to leeward of our 
island and in a crippled state. Luckily we had 



FOXES—TALES — SEA — TRACES. 179 

plenty of provisions on board, with a good supply 
of water, and I could not but think to myself, if 
the gale lasted, we should be carried in the course 
of a fortnight to England or Ireland against our 
wilL It was fortunate for us the part of the 
mast which was carried away had — with the 
rigging— been saved. On examination I found 
the hooks of the runner stay had straightened 
from the sudden squall, and caused our mishap. 
In time we lashed the two stumps together, set 
our canvas anew, and hove the schooner to for the 
night, she gradually falling to leeward. On the 
morrow the gale seemed spent, and we made all 
sail we could, but to attempt to reach our island 
was out of the question, as we were dead to lee- 
ward of it. 

In the course of the forenoon we found the 
wind had veered round to west, and so we deter- 
mined to make for Newfoundland, and after 

i2 



180 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

three days' buffeting amongst the waves — three 
days of hard work and nervous anxiety — we 
found ourselves snug in a small harbour of that 
island. 



NEWFOUNDLAND AND BACK AGAIN. 181 



CHAPTEE XV. 



NEWFOUNDLAND AND BACK AGAIN. 



■*o- 



Newfoundland is, like Labrador, proverbial for 

its hospitality to strangers. Indeed in all pri- 
mitive countries the heart is kept open and 
formalities are thrown aside. Invitations are 
dispensed with. You hear pipe and tabor sound 
in a house, enter, and meet a welcome. 

As we found the schooner had strained herself 
in the gale, and was making some water, it was 
necessary to have the cargo landed, and the hull 
examined and caulked. I thought therefore I 
would have a run on shore for a few days, and 
look about me. Being recognized by some of 



182 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

my old friends who had visited me on the coast, 
I was made more than usually welcome. One 
old skipper shook me by the hand, and said, 
" Well, my boy, you are come in the nick of 
time ; we are about having an election of mem- 
bers for the Legislative Council, and rare fun it 
will be, for the members are elected by universal 
suffrage, while scarce a man-jack of the whole 
electors knows what universal suffrage means.' 
Like that great philosopher, Mr. Pickwick, at 
Eatanswill, I looked forward anxiously for the 
election day ; meanwhile, however, I enjoyed my- 
self in a hundred ways— the evening dance, song, 
and story being, of course, the leading recreations. 
The election truly was " good fun. v Uni- 
versal Suffrage seemed, with the Newfound- 
landers, to stand for Universal Babel. A number 
of candidates were " up/' but so determined 
were the electors to make the most of their pri- 



NEWFOUNDLAND AND BACK AGAIN. 183 

vilege, that they wished to record their votes in 
favour of them all ; and when this excessive 
liberality was objected to by the poll-clerks, 
many free and enlightened gentlemen declined 
to vote at all. " I'll vote for every one, or for 
no one ! 3 was a common speech at the booths- 
To me the whole thing appeared a farce. The 
elective system was simply brought into con- 
tempt as — since the adoption of this same uni- 
versal suffrage — I read it has been in our larger 
and more important colonies on the other side 
of the Pacific. Soon after the election my 
schooner was repaired, and all made ready for 
a start. On the morrow, after we were " fit for 
sea., 5 ' a fine breeze sprang up from the south, and 
directly she felt the influence of the wind on her 
canvas, our little craft went bounding over the 
blue waters, and in three days we were snug in 
our small harbour. 



184 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

The routine of the season was going forward 
as usual, and everybody congratulated us on our 
return. One fine Sunday afternoon, taking a 
stroll, as usual, after private divine service, I 
observed a long line of rowing boats — some fifty 
in number — pass the island. On inquiry I found 
it was an Irish funeral. A small island, about a 
mile from the main land, is consecrated for the 
burial of the believers in the Romish Church, 
and so particular are the Irish Catholics as to 
where they bury their dead, that they will 
ofttimes bring a body fifty or sixty miles for the 
purpose. Even should a person die in the 
winter, his or her remains are drawn to the 
island from an immense distance. One winter I 
was staying at a neighbouring establishment, 
when a man entered, and thus addressed the 
principal : " An God save ye ! poor Paddy died 
last night, the Lord rest his soul ! : at the same 



NEWFOUNDLAND AND BACK AGAIN. 185 

time crossing himself. " Well, Jem, what can I 
do for you ? ' was the reply. " Why, you see, 
sir, Bill and myself are about ' waking ' the 
poor man, and we want a thrifle of rhum and 
brandy to wake him wid.' " How many gallons 
will suffice ? ' " Oh ! bedad, the matter of 
eight of rhum, and I could do wid four of 
brandy.' 3 " The quantity is too large for so 
small a crew.' : " Oh ! sure, and we cannot do 
with less, and must have all the rhum, if not all 
the brandy.'' Well, eight gallons of rum and 
two of brandy were duly served out to " Jem," 
and away he went, rejoicing to think what a 
glorious wake they would have in the evening. 
Being curious to witness an Irish wake so far 
from the Old Land, I selected a companion, and 
away we went to the scene. Some few neigh- 
bours were invited, and kept up the wake until 
the rum and brandy were exhausted. Although 

I 3 



186 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

Jem was only a few hours in advance, the spirits 
had commenced their baneful influence. The 
coffin — which was in process of manufacture — 
was commenced with a regular elbow from the 
top, on one side, but before the other side was 
formed^ the maker was so blind, he made it 
flat, and thus the coffin was constructed with 
three flat sides, and one with the usual elbow. 
Poor Paddy was often appealed to, to say if any 
of the present party had wronged him, and what 
for. Sometimes the corpse would be taken up, 
and, in drunken madness, embraced by one of 
his friends ; then another would come up and 
dispute the right ; then a scuffle would ensue, 
and the dead body would be thrust first in 
this corner, and then in that, but oftener would 
be laid flat in the middle of the floor. A little of 
this wake went a long way, and I speedily left 
the party, and walked home in the moonlight. 



NEWFOUNDLAND AND BACK AGAIN. 187 

Being anxious, however, to learn the result of 
the affair, and to ascertain if any of the party 
had sustained injuries, I again visited the place 
in the morning, and found every one all but 
speechlessly intoxicated : when they spoke it was 
only to ask for more drink. I coffined poor 
Pat with great difficulty, as his limbs had become 
rigid with the frost. It was two days more 
before his countrymen were sufficiently recovered 
to take him to his last resting-place. The man 
just departed had some little property in nets, 
boats, and a small establishment on the coast, 
and (as we had no lawyers amongst us) these 
were fairly and quietly divided among his 
friends. 



188 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 



LIFE ON THE COAST — AUTUMN. 



We have a race on the coast who are thus 
curtly described by Cartwright in comparison 
with the honest and generous Esquimaux : — 

" Not so the mountaineers ; a treach'rous race, 
In stature tall, but meagre in the face; 
To Europeans long have they been known, 
And all their vices these have made their own. 
Not theirs the friendly visit, nor the feast 
Of social intercourse ; but like brute beast 
They greedily devour the reeking meal, 
And then get drunk, and quarrel, lie, and steal. " 

To have a party of these marauders on your 
establishment is not at all pleasant. Their 
visits are certainly few and far between ; for 
having no settled place of abode, they wander 



LIFE ON THE COAST AUTUMN. 189 

from locality to locality, catching furs and killing 
game for their support. When they have a 
sufficient quantity of furs to dispose of, they 
resort to the nearest establishment, and dispose 
of them for spirits, which they greedily swallow ; 
they then have a fight amongst themselves, and 
when tired and well bruised, they spread out 
their deer-skins and sleep out their debauch. 
On awaking they will lie quiet, still shamming 
sleep ; and, when they fancy the coast is clear, 
thev rise from their affected slumber, and, if 
practicable, decamp with the very furs they had 
sold you. If they succeed in this, or any similar 
piece of felony, you have the consolation (if 
consolation it be) of knowing you will not see 
the same set of rascals again — or at all events 
for some years. They are fleet on foot, and 
expert marksmen, their weapon being the cross- 
bow, and a blunt arrow, so balanced that the 



190 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

top or blunt part just preponderates. They 
never aim direct at an object, but in a para- 
boloid — so well judging the altitude of the re- 
quired curve that they seldom miss their mark. 
I saw the same feat performed with the blunt 
arrow which the Esquimaux did with the gun — 
I mean firing it perpendicularly in the air — the 
only difference being that the mountaineer never 
moved from the circle made, while so sure was 
his aim, that the arrow would fall at his feet, in 
front of him ! Such bows and arrows are used 
by the natives of Siberia, and the same remark- 
able feat is performed by them. 

There is another race of Indians on the 
coast ; these are seldom seen, and are but little 
known, even to the natives. They appear at 
long intervals, and are called by the Esquimaux 
Nascobi. I never saw any of them, so, of 
course, I cannot describe them. I believe they 



LIFE ON THE COAST — AUTUMN. 191 

and the mountaineers are mutual enemies, while 
the Esquimaux are the foes of both. 

During my sojourn on the coast we had two 
visits from the mountaineers, but they eon- 
ducted themselves so savagely that I was right 
glad to see their backs. The small dog spoken 
of in a former chapter is bred by this tribe. 
Although a wild and roving race, from the 
intercourse with Europeans they have imbibed 
all their " civilised ! vices without one particle 
of their civilised virtues. 

The fall of this year was charming. Indeed, 
November turned out finer than October, which 
gave us an opportunity of enjoying our favourite 
occupation — wild-fowl shooting, in the water. 
This year, with the mild weather, there came 
upon us innumerable quantities of small wild- 
fowl, called by the settlers ci bull-birds." They 
are perfect ducks in miniature, and are web- 



192 RECOLLECTIONS OP LABRADOR LIFE. 

footed ; they seldom take wing, but keep con- 
tinually skimming the water — now diving, and 
now rising again, with manifest enjoyment. 
Still, with all their efforts, they cannot evade 
man: I used to kill from thirty to forty of a 
morning. 

One day, the sea being too rough for aquatic 
sports, I took my gun and strolled across the 
hills in search of wild-fowl along the different 
small inlets. On one of the hills I could com- 
mand two or more of these inlets, and when I 
reached the summit I fancied I heard a piteous 
moan, as if from two or three dogs. Following 
the sound, I soon came upon the object which 
had attracted my attention. I found on a rock 
two dogs, half-a-dozen dead ducks, and a gun 
recently discharged. On my near approach, I 
recognised the dogs, and guessed who the miss- 
ing party was. Nearing the animals, they 



LIFE ON THE COAST — AUTUMN. 193 

showed their dislike to my disturbing any of the 
articles on the rocks. Still, one gently wagged 
his tail as if he knew me, and with a sorrowful 
expression of countenance — how dogs can ex- 
press their grief or joy Sir Edwin Landseer has 
shown us — walked slowly to the edge of the 
rock, and, raising his head towards the sky, 
gave three of the most piteous moans I ever 
heard, and then returned and lay down to his 
charge. All I could do, I could not get the 
dogs to leave the spot. There they stood, as if 
still hopeful they would hear their master's voice 
again ; but this they never did. 

I marked the spot indicated by the dog, and 
retraced my steps homeward, and having to 
pass the man's hut who, I felt, had met a soli- 
tary death, I informed the remaining crew of 
my suspicions, and then I heard that their com- 
panion had set out in the morning for the place 



194 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

where I had found the dogs, having seen some 
birds about the spot the previous day, and wish- 
ing to shoot them. 

The dogs remained at their post all night — 
no one could remove them. The next morning 
the sea was calm ; three boats w r ere launched, 
creepers placed in them, and off we went to the 
spot. I had no occasion to point out the place, 
for immediately on our approaching it, the 
dog who had moaned over the rock again did 
the same, and, after a short search near the 
spot, the body was found just under the cliff. 
On taking the corpse in the boat, both dogs com- 
menced howling, and followed the boats to the 
Establishment, and would not leave their dead 
master until he was put under ground. Nay, 
for some days after, these two dogs haunted the 
grave, and, in whatever place they sat, kept 
their faces turned towards it, as if listening for 



LIFE ON THE COAST — AUTUMN. 195 

the familiar call. An inquest was held amongst 
ourselves upon the body (as was our custom), 
and a verdict returned according to the evi- 
dence, which, although but circumstantial, clearly 
showed that, in the act of shooting, the poor 
fellow had fallen over the ledge of the rock. 

On resuming my sport the day after the dis- 
covery of the body, I thought I had a rare 
prize in a large bird, standing some four feet 
high from the ground. I shot at and killed it, 
when, on picking it up, to my surprise I found 
it was a bittern — a bird nearly all neck, with a 
very small body. These bitterns are seldom 
met with in Labrador, and are even scarce in 
Newfoundland. I attributed its presence to the 
exceptional mildness of the season. 

I may conclude this chapter by mentioning 
that one autumn we had a wreck on the coast, 
in consequence of a ship's compass being affected 



196 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

by, it was said, the juxtaposition of the vessel to 
a spot abounding in iron-ore. The captain had 
refused to take a pilot on board, but suddenly 
he found the compass-needle playing all sorts of 
antics — now describing a good half-circle, and 
now running right round the card. It may be 
that polar influences, rather than local metallic 
causes, %ere the reason of this. It is a subject 
on which I cannot attempt to pronounce. Certes, 
the vessel was wrecked, but the captain and 
crew were saved, and were well fed and clothed 
by the Good Samaritans of the far, far North. 



KING FROST AGAIN. 



19 



CHAPTEE XVII. 



KING FROST AGAIN. 



If every evil has its good, it would almost 
seem that every good has its evil. The mild 
November month threatens a severe frost for 
December, with little or no prospect of a u voyage 
of seals ' for this year. Sure enough, as De- 
cember came in, Nature at once grew rigid of 
demeanour, and the thermometer suddenly fell 
from fourteen to twenty degrees below zero. 
The seal-nets were placed out, but from the 
state of the weather were not sighted for more 
than a month afterwards. Although the climate 
of Labrador is so cold, sharks abound along the 



198 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

coast in the fall of the year, and many are en- 
trammelled in the seal-nets. On clearing the 
nets, I found one of these monsters, measuring 
fourteen feet long, and well-proportioned; and, 
on opening him, I found quite a quarter of a 
hundredweight of fat inside of him — he having, 

as it were, peeled it off the seal as he fan- 
cied it. 

One of the shipwrecked men saved from the 
schooner had been an ice-hunter, and whiled 
away many an hour by relating the mode of 
catching seals in the spring of the year on the 
coast of Newfoundland. At that time some 
three to four thousand men were employed in 
the capture in schooners of from seventy to two 
hundred tons' burden. The vessels were gene- 
rally equipped by some of the merchants at the 
different ports, St. John's sending out the largest 
number. The crews vary from twenty to forty 



KIXG FROST AGAIN. 199 

men, according to the size of the craft, and the 
ships are well found, with two rudders, and a 
false side to resist the pressure of the ice. These 
expeditions are fraught with considerable dan- 
ger. It is absolutely necessary to keep leeward 
of the ice, as, should a gale come on and the 
craft be on the windward side, away goes the 
craft, false sides and all. Nothing can save it. 
If it is to leeward, and a close pack or jam of 
ice sets in, it is tolerably safe ; the vessel be- 
coming, as it w T ere, set upon blocks, and there 
the crew await the " whelping' time. All 
young seals have white coats when whelped, but 
where they get their nourishment from for eight 
or nine days, I could never learn. Suffice it to 
say, in the course of that period they become 
quite fat, and fit to be taken or killed. They 
require but a slight tap on the nose, and are 
a settled." After a man has killed as many as 



200 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

he can conveniently walk off with, he drags 
them alongside the schooner, and walks off after 
another "turn," as it is termed; so that, if a 
craft happens to fall in with the main body, 
they may kill easily, for a crew of twenty men, 
some four thousand seals in about four days. 
These will yield from forty to fifty tons of oil. 
Some men, in their over-eagerness for gain, lose 
the whole of their catch. Before loading, a 
sufficient time must be allowed for the skin and 
fat of the seal to cool. The whole being put 
on board in bulk, should it not have " cooled,' 
the entire mass heats, and becomes pure oil ; 
and from the build of the Newfoundland crafts, 
they would fall on their beam-ends (as oil, like 
water, soon finds the centre of gravity), unless 
the liquid contents were pumped out again. 

It frequently happens that a vessel will load 
in four or five days, run into port, discharge, 



KING FROST AGAIN. 201 

and be in the ice again in ten days from the 
time she left it. I knew a skipper who had a 
famous dog for ice-hunting, and this would kill 
from thirty to forty old seals in the course of a 
day. Such an animal was a fortune to him, as 
he had only to feed him on the carcase, for 
which dogs have a remarkable fondness. I re- 
collect one year's "return 5 of the seals killed 
on the ice. The number amounted to some- 
thing like two hundred and thirty thousand. 

The amphibious animal called the walrus is 
very rarely seen on the Labrador coast, and is 
rather a dangerous subject to encounter. It 
has no fear, and nothing less than a good gun 
will serve the purpose of getting rid of it. The 
tooth of the animal forms an ornament for the 
skirt of an Esquimaux cassock, and is supposed 
to take away all evil influence any person might 
have against the wearer. 

K 



202 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

About this time I was called on to visit a 
poor old man whose will I had made the pre- 
vious year, and who was now on the point of 
death. I had often asked him to allow me to 
read to him, but he had invariably refused — say- 
ing he had lived through life without the Bible, 
and why could he not go out of the world the 
same ? I never argued the point with him — 
why should I have done so ? I thought to my- 
self, when the old man wants me he will send 
for me, and I sha'n't refuse to go. When I saw 
him, he looked at me with an anxious eye, and, 
on asking him what were his wishes, he feebly 
and nervously replied, " I am not easy in my 
mind ; I hope you have not taken amiss what I 
told you some time back : I should like you to 
read me something comforting. I have been a 
great swearer in my time, and feel I shall not 
be here long/' I opened the Bible, and read to 



KINO FROST AGAIN. 203 

him from the fortieth chapter of Isaiah : " Com- 
fort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." 
After finishing the chapter, which he listened to 
with much attention, he said how thankful he 
was for the cheering words of the Book, and 
hoped I would again visit him in the morning, 
which I promised to do. But when morning 
came, I found he was resting, with the calm 
look of an infant, in his last sleep! My next 
task was to read the Service for the Burial of the 
Dead over his remains. This done, I sold his 
effects by auction, and divided the proceeds as 
he had desired. 

The bays were now fast — just like polished 
mirrors, and quite as slippery. Now was the 
time for skates, for the ice was so hard and 
smooth that an impression could not be made 
with the iron. In one of the harbours south it 
was nearly as severe as with us, and some of the 

k2 



204 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

youths, seeing the smooth ice, put the skates on 
and ventured from under the lee of the land. 
The moment they had gone so far, the breeze 
took the foremost of the party, and carried him, 
at mad speed, into a patch of clear water, where 
he was drowned — none of his companions daring 
to follow him, for fear of the same fate. 

The celestial bodies in this part of the globe 
assume a special grandeur. The sky is so clear 
and the air so pure, while the moon at the fall 
sheds so much light, you may, without difficulty, 
read the finest print by its lustre. Strolling on 
one of these fine nights, I observed the aurora 
borealis, but not clear, as the moon was too 
bright. On another occasion, however, when 
the moon was on the wane, I had an oppor- 
tunity of witnessing the phenomenon from a 
height of three hundred feet above the level of 
the sea, and had a good chance of forming an 



KING FROST AGAIX. 205 

opinion regarding it. In fact, it was — if I may 
so express myself— so close to me, I could dis- 
tinctly hear a rustling noise as of sheets of 
paper being rubbed together. From what I 
saw then and on several subsequent occasions, it 
is my belief the aurora borealis is nothing more 
than a thin transparent vapour floating in the 
air, and acted upon by light currents of atmos- 
phere, the celestial bodies reflecting themselves 
in and upon the vapoury veil. I never recollect 
seeing it with a strong wind blowing, but always 
in perfectly calm weather ; and when we con- 
sider the rainbow, the lunar rainbow, the mock- 
suns, and the various other appearances of the 
same character produced by vapour, it is not 
unreasonable to classify the aurora borealis in 
the same category. But, whatever may be its 
cause, the aurora borealis is surprisingly beauti- 
ful, and seems like the portals of that City 



206 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

whose streets are of jasper. Meteors are very 
common in Labrador, and they are meteors 
always on the move and fond of sport. They 
dart and dazzle through the air like very 
Pucks. 

This December I again started to explore the 
interior, taking with me the small team of dogs 
I possessed. On this excursion I was accom- 
panied by two Esquimaux as guides, and we 
travelled sometimes fifty miles a day, but on 
other days we could not make more than five or 
six, and this with difficulty. Let me explain. 
You arrive at the foot of an island you have to 
cross ; in crossing you save some miles, but the 
island is very steep all round, without any sign 
of vegetation — not even a stunted larch to assist 
you in ascending to the summit, which may be 
a hundred feet above you. Although you are 
provided with a small tomahawk or hatchet for 



KIXG FROST AGAIX. 207 

the purpose of cutting steps to assist you, yet 
it frequently happens, after half-an-hour's toil? 
when you find yourself nearly at the top, your 
foot slips, and down you come to where you 
started from at the foot of the island. On our 
journey this necessity of cutting steps arose no 
less than three times in one stage. Of course, 
the fatigue is great, and after the toil you are 
glad to take rest in order to recover your 
strength. During this mode of travelling, when 
night comes on, you repair to the woods— that 
is, where there are any woods — fell the first 
trees, strip the boughs, which are converted into 
a sort of litter for sleeping on, and cut the timber 
into suitable lengths for your fire, which is 
mainly kindled to keep the wolves away ; — not 
that I ever knew them attack men, but they 
might come and dispute about the provisions 
which you are compelled to carry for the day. 



208 RECOLLECTIONS OP LABRADOR LIFE. 

After three days' journey, we found ourselves 
snugly housed in the hut of a settler, who, as 
usual, showed us every hospitality, and here we 
stayed and made merry for three days and 
nights. 



EXPEDITION TO SANDWICH BAY. 209 



CHAPTEB XVIII 



EXPEDITION TO SANDWICH BAY 



Early in the morning of the fourth day the 
dogs were harnessed, and away we started for 
the Isle of Ponds (distant about ten miles from 
the hut), where we heard there was a large herd 
of deer grazing. After ascending a steep hill, 
we came in sight of a boundless view many 
miles in extent, and, to my surprise, the Esqui- 
maux informed me he could see the deer grazing 
some four miles off, and he even hinted how 
many there were. Descending the hill, we 
were fairly on the Isle of Ponds, with good hard 
snow to travel on Very shortly the dogs got 

k 3 



210 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

scent of the deer, and from this moment the 
sport and excitement commenced. The dogs 
tore along with the sledge at the wildest speed, 
in order to overtake the herd, regardless of the 
bumping and jolting we were receiving from the 
occasional unevenness of the snow. The deer, 
to the number of forty or fifty, all in line, 
bounded away for about two or three hundred 
yards, as they caught sight of us ; then they 
faced about ; then they darted off again for 
about fifty yards ; and then, once more, halted. 
The shaking of the sledge made it impossible 
for us to take good aim, and, coming in contact 
with the stump of a tree, the sledge itself 
bounded into the air; the whole of us were 
thrown out, and away went the dogs on their 
own account in full chase. We were much 
annoyed at this, but late in the day we had the 
satisfaction of seeing the deer coming towards 



EXPEDITION TO SANDWICH BAY. 211 

us, and the dogs in grand pursuit. This time 
we were more careful in our shooting. Lying 
down, we awaited their approach, and stopped 
one, which had also the effect of calling off the 
dogs, for, on his falling, they made for him 
directly. To skin the deer was the work of a 
quarter of an hour, and as fast as one took the 
skin off, the others were employed in cutting it 
up into joints. This was absolutely necessary, 
as it was freezing so hard that, had we not 
hastened our labour, the carcase would have 
become solid and difficult to carry, especially 
through the woods in deep snow. Even the 
skin was kept folded as the process of skinning 
was going on. 

The deer scarcely relies for safety on its eye- 
sight. It is provided with what the settlers call 
a " scrut-bottle,' situated in the postern of the 
hind-leg, and containing a substance much like 



212 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

oil, which they smell, and which is so sensitive 
to the slightest atmospheric motion that it gives 
them notice of any danger to windward. 

This day's sport led to another night in the 
bush, with keen appetite for our primitively 
prepared supper. A good fire having been 
kindled, and some long sticks cut to represent 
forks, slices of the venison were chopped off, 
and each man cooked his own according to his 
taste. Many an epicure would have envied us 
the meal had he known what a splendid sauce 
our hunger was, The Esquimaux took the 
heart of the deer, which, as it was frozen, was 
not considered to need cooking. 

Throughout the night we were obliged to be 
vigilant and on the watch, as the wolves, scent- 
ing the savoury food, paid us near and numerous 
visits ; but a shot every now and then kept 
them just beyond boundaries. Thus we passed 



EXPEDITION TO SANDWICH BAY. 213 

the night, and with the sun took our departure 
north-west; and in the evening found ourselves 
again in comfortable quarters. They were cer- 
tainly in the woods, but this time on the top of 
a hill some three hundred feet above the level 
of the sea. Here I saw some beautiful speci- 
mens of the flying squirrel, but being very 
nimble I could not catch one, and not belonging 
to the carnivorous species they are difficult to 
trap. 

The establishments on this part of the coast 
are in some instances located at the foot of the 
hills, and the mode adopted to bring the wood 
for summer use to the sea-side is very curious. 
Two flat pieces of board, about six feet long by 
three inches wide, with a strap in the centre for 
the feet to go in, are worn by the woodmen to 
descend the hill, not the least exertion being 
used by them. With a heavy load on their 



214 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

backs, I have seen them slide down erect, and 
at almost railway speed. I must confess I was 
foolish enough to try my skill with a pair of 
these machines on my feet, and was rewarded 
with a bound of about ten feet down the hill, 
with sundry bruises for my pains. 

The further north-west we went the more 
wood we discovered, and walked through many 
beautiful birch-groves. In the underwood may 
be found currants and raspberries, both very 
small, wortleberries and cranberries. The cherry 
also grows in some parts, but these are worth- 
less, being without any flavour. The trees I 
mostly observed were the black, white, and red 
spruce, larch, silver-fir, birch, and aspen. The 
latter is valuable in Labrador on account of its 
durability under water. I saw one fine shrub, 
and was told it was called the a maiden-hair 
tea-shrub," used, when it could be found, as a 



EXPEDITION TO SANDWICH BAT. 215 

substitute for our China tea- — so we used it, and 
I must confess I liked the flavour quite as much 
as that of Souchong or Congou. The natives 
also use the spruce-boughs as tea. The only 
esculent (in the common sense) found on the 
coast fit to eat was named the " Alexander " — 
a species of celery. Scurvy-grass, young leaves 
of the osier, and of the ground wortleberry are. 
however, largely eaten. The " Alexander" is 
found in the crevices of rocks, where a small 
quantity of soil has been deposited, and the 
scurvy-grass is found at the river-heads of the 
different bays along the coast. 

After a few days' shooting and hunting, we 
again started forward. Having proceeded a few 
miles, the dogs began to be restive ; and, but 
for the activity of the Esquimaux, they no 
doubt would have given us another dance : but 
the Esquimaux overturned the sledge, and thus 



216 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

stopped their progress. On searching for the 
cause of this restiveness, we found the wolves 
had killed a deer, and four of them were dis- 
cussing the hind and fore-quarters. As the 
wind was blowing from them, they were not 
aware of our approach, but the report of a gun 
sent them off growling, and left us part of their 
meal, which, although killed by the wolves, was 
not a whit the worse on that account. 

The day was beautifully fine, Math a Turner- 
esque blue sky, the temperature at fourteen 
degrees below zero, and a shear-edged north 
wind. We came upon four deer, in the course 
of our journey, quietly grazing together, and 
apparently so listless that they allowed me to 
go up within an easy distance and despatch 
one. 

Our next halt was at an Esquimaux wigwam. 
As usual, we found the women busy at work, 



EXPEDITION TO SANDWICH BAY. 217 

while some of the men also were constructing 
" kyacks," or canoes for summer use. The 
timbers are made of the birch, steamed into the 
required shape, and are fastened together by 
strong lashings formed from the skin of the seal. 
Several seal-skins in the shape of the frame are 
then sewn together, and, when wet, are stretched 
over it, and the whole being secured, the 
"kyack* is entirely covered, save that an aper- 
ture is left in the centre to sit in. Although 
not more than eight or ten inches deep, the 
Esquimaux frequently convey their families from 
one place to another in these frail boats. I 
found one man employed in making a sledge. 
It was about twenty feet long by fourteen inches 
broad, the sides being formed of two-inch plank 
about a foot deep; the under-edges are shod 
with whalebone a quarter of an inch thick, fas- 
tened on with pegs made out of the teeth of the 



218 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

walrus. Across the upper edges are placed 
boards close together, and secured to the sides 
by means of strips of seal-skin. This sledge is 
called by the Esquimaux a " commeteck. v 

Leaving our friends, we again started across 
the barren waste, with nothing but ice and snow 
around us, and a compass to direct our course. 
Owing to an uncertainty as to whether we were 
on land or water, we made for the woods, and 
on our journey thither we found we were on the 
water, as many seals were sporting in the sun 
near their blowing-holes, and on our approach 
bored themselves through the ice in the most 
dexterous style. We had not the good fortune 
to catch a single one. 

Another night in the bush. The day follow- 
ing brought us to Sandwich Bay. We here 
remained a week, each day exploring the in- 
terior as far as we could safely go. I found 



EXPEDITION TO SANDWICH BAT. 219 

vegetation in this part much finer than else- 
where on the coast — in fact, all the trees and 
shrubs were larger. Game, too, was more 
abundant, and, although the winter was severe, 
fish could be caught in numbers. About twenty 
miles from the mouth of Sandwich Bay, inland 
and close to a place called Paradise, is a small 
lake about four miles long and two wide. In 
this lake may be found, summer and winter, an 
abundance of trout, salmon, and pike. In sum- 
mer, nets are employed ; in winter, holes are 
cut through the ice, and the hooks baited and 
let down. Thus you may fish your fill. 

During my stay in this bay I visited the re- 
mains of an establishment originally founded by 
George Cartwright, so far back as 1792. He 
was very fond of Labrador, and spent a great 
deal of money in building and importing all 
sorts of birds and animals, with a view of getting 



220 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

them acclimatised; but he found the winters 
too severe. His exertions, however, were pa- 
triotic and unceasing ; — for instance, he took 
out some greyhounds, but as the fall came on 
he saw their coats were not sufficient to keep 
them warm, so he had recourse to a flannel 
covering, only allowing the dog the use of its 
eyes. The hounds used to run about clad in 
woollen wrappers, but even with this protection 
they soon died. 

Near this locality I found several Esquimaux 
had located themselves. As their wigwams 
were somewhat different from those I had before 
seen, I may as well describe one : the entrance 
was by a low, narrow passage, some twelve feet 
long and about three and a-half feet high, en- 
tirely formed of sods covered with snow. At 
the end of this passage was a square room of 
about fourteen feet, and lighted in the centre by 



EXPEDITION TO SANDWICH BAY. 221 

a sort of skylight made from the entrails of the 
large seal. This was perfectly air-tight, and 
impervious to wet. The roof was formed in the 
same way as the passage, and round the sky- 
light were flowers growing out of the whitened 
sods, like stars. 



222 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE, 



CHAPTEE XIX. 



JOURNEY HOME FROM SANDWICH BAY. 



-K>»- 



Leaving Sandwich Bay for our own home we 
made a de'tour to visit some other establishments 
before getting back. I have already remarked 
that the settlers in Labrador were hospitable in 
the extreme. I am sorry to say I found an 
exception to the rule in the man at whose esta- 
blishment we next halted for the night. Per- 
haps our numbers alarmed him, as, although on 
setting out a month before we numbered but 
four, on our return homewards our party had 
grown to sixty, with a proportional increase of 
dogs. On nearing this man's habitation one or 



JOURNEY HOME FROM SANDWICH BAY. 223 

two hints were thrown out as to the sort of recep- 
tion we should meet, but I could not believe 
that a man who had partaken of my hospitality 
the previous winter would refuse n\e his salt. 
Arrived at his house, however, we found him 
coolly standing at his door surveying our different 
movements. As we were unharnessing the dogs 
he called out, " How much farther are you going 
to-night? 5 " Why, we intend putting up here, 
at all events for the night, and as the weather is 
bad we shall have to stop." " Well then," said 
he, " I hope you have brought plenty of provi- 
sions with you.' : u No, ,! said some one. " We 
heard what prime sport you had in the fall, and 
what a stock of deer you have buried. We 
come to pick a bit of it with you." The man 
growled his dissent, and declared he had none. 
Now everybody knows what a hungry English- 
man is, and, as he refused to give, we reluctantly 



224 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

resolved to take. The dogs were set to find the 
buried venison, and in this they soon succeeded. 
Bulk was then broken — which means that the 
store was disturbed — and we were soon sawing 
and digging out a supply. When the carcass of 
the deer is stored up for winter use it is com- 
pletely frozen, so some trouble is experienced to 
get any from the bulk. To disjoint it would be 
all but impossible. After a deer is taken out of 
bulk a cross-cut saw is procured, and the animal 
is sawed in two ; the same is done with the fore 
and hind quarters, care being taken to gather 
the sawdust on a clean cloth, which proves a 
rich gravy. When the animal is cut up into 
quarters, a hand-saw is used to saw out steaks for 
the ever-hungry crew. Every one was soon 
amply provided with a supper on the occasion in 
question, while so numerous were we, that he 
who refused to give — who had meanly removed 




JOURNEY HOME FROM SANDWICH BAY. 225 

himself beyond the customs of the country — saw 
us take, and was powerless to interfere. But 
his parsimony cost him more than this. In such 
a country inhospitality is cruelty, and so his 
conduct was regarded by every one. No one 
would trade with him — no one even speak to 
him — and he lived the life of a hermit all the 
while he remained on the coast. 

Being among the Esquimaux I was curious to 
learn how the icebergs were formed, and made 
inquiry of many. Still it was some time before 
I could assure myself their theory was correct. 
One intelligent old man explained their forma- 
tion to me nearly in the following words : — 
The immense islands of ice — for they are nothing 
less — which you daily see on the coast of La- 
brador, or, at all events, near the coast, can only 
be formed in this manner. The sea in the ex- 
treme north is of such a depth that navigators 

L 



226 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

have often not been able to find the bottom with 
a line of a hundred fathoms ; even close to the 
shore the land is very high, and many parts of 
the shore are perpendicular. The face of the 
coast being greatly broken, numbers of bays and 
coves are formed, and these are defended from 
any swell rolling into them from the sea, by the 
prodigious quantity of flat, low ice, which almost 
continually covers that part of the ocean, and 
which, it may be presumed, prevents those bays 
and coves from breaking up for one, two, or 
more years together. The severe frost of our 
winter will form flat ice upon them of an in- 
credible thickness ; that ice is deeply covered 
with the snows which are constantly falling, and 
a thousand times more is drifted upon it from 
the adjoining land, until the accumulation is be- 
yond estimation or conception. On the return 
of summer the sun and rain cause the snow to 



JOURXEY HOME FROM SANDWICH BAY. 227 

become wet and to shrink together, when the 
frost from beneath, striking up through the whole 
mass, consolidates it into a firm body of ice. 
In this manner it keeps continually accumulat- 
ing, until the adjoining sea gets clearer of drift- 
ice than usual, when a gale of wind sets in from 
the southward, sends in a swell which breaks up 
the whole and divides it in many pieces, re- 
sembling huge white rocks, flushed with soft 
blue, which are slowly dragged to the southward 
by the current. As several of those islands may 
be some years before they arrive in a climate 
that is capable of dissolving them, it is more 
than probable that in the mean time they gain 
more in the course of each winter than they lose 
in the intermediate summer. 

Cartwright supports our part of this theory, 
for he observes " that when they have advanced 
some distance to the southward, they thaw so 

L 2 



228 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

much faster under water than they do above it, 
that they lose their equilibrium, upset, and fall 
in pieces ; otherwise," he adds, " I verily believe 
that some of them would drive almost to the 
equinoctial line before they were entirely dis- 
solved." 

After our night in the bush, and our dismem- 
berment of the deer, we moved on for home. 
On passing some of the islands I had visited 
the year before, I found their character quite 
changed. The weight of ice and snow on many 
a point had levelled the whole to the ground. 
I have often observed, in journeying to the north 
in severe winters, the snow lies so deep that per- 
haps for two or three years objects such as boats, 
huts, timber, and it may be, human beings, will 
be concealed by it. The next year comes a 
mild season, the objects so buried come to light, 
and the whole aspect of the place is changed. I 



JOURNEY HOME FROM SANDWICH BAY. 229 

have frequently passed a spot where I knew 
sundry boats to be buried, but, from the depth 
of snow and ice over them, they could not be 
got out. Let a hope come from this to the 
relatives and friends of long-missing Arctic 
travellers. I have missed well-known objects 
— well-known men — for several years, and 
then a warmer season than usual has melted 
the walls of snow and ice by which they were 
surrounded. 

Travelling in Labrador in the winter-time is, 
although cold, pleasant enough. You have lots 
of warm clothing on, and other means of coping 
with the severity of the season. In the summer 
months, however, it is not so cheerful. The 
traveller must carry all his provisions on his 
back, together with his hatchet, and from the 
continued interruptions of lakes and rivers he 
will find, if he has a u crow's distance" of five 



230 RECOLLECTIONS OP LABRADOR LIFE, 

or six miles to go, he must generally perform a 
journey of at least ten to fifteen miles, with the 
ground giving way under his feet, as if walking 
on sponge, to say nothing of the intolerable and 
incessant torment of millions of flies. Indeed 
when an early spring appears, so great is this 
last plague, that the furrier who has to collect 
his traps, placed out since the last fall, is really 
compelled to take another hand with him to 
combat the flies. They light a quantity of 
green wood, fill an iron pot with it, and then, 
placing the pot on the centre of a pole some 
ten feet long, each takes an end, and thus 
they trudge on through the bush, the smoke 
almost blinding them, but keeping the flies 
at a distance. 

With all these drawbacks life is enjoyed on 
the coast. Cartwright used to say, he thought 
Labrador would make a capital settlement for 



JOURNEY HOME FROM SANDWICH BAY. 231 

convicts ; the only thing wanting was snug 
quarters for the chief of the department and his 
subordinates. Is this idea still worth considera- 
tion ? I think it is. 



232 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 



CHAPTEE XX. 



HOME AGAIN. 



-♦o*- 



Nothing particular befel us on our return home- 
ward. Every one seemed pleased with the 
trip, and as we left each other to proceed to our 
respective establishments, a hearty shake of the 
hand all round showed that good-fellowship pre- 
vailed amongst us. It was strange what a change 
had been wrought in the appearance of some of 
us ! I found, what I had often been told, that 
the wind and frost tan the skin much more than 
does a tropical sun ; so when I came home my 
men did not recognize me, but mistook me for 
some coloured savage. 



HOME AGAIN. 23 



Q 



Never having properly " gone to bed " for a 
month — during which time I had been away — I 
thought I should enjoy my first night's " bed 3 
again amazingly. I was, however, greatly dis- 
appointed, for, after lying down some time, I was 
seized with a suffocating sensation, and had to 
dart into the open air to get my breath. After 
my long encampments beneath the moon a real 
feather-bed was for a long time unendurable. 

The day after my arrival I had a visit from 
an old acquaintance. The black bears had been 
and played him a trick in the fall of the year, 
with his olive oil, and stolen the most part, so 
he wanted a small supply to make good the loss. 
How much did he want ? Oh ! only about two 
gallons. On inquiry I found the open stock 
was expended, so, sending for the carpenter and 
his mate, we proceeded to the oil-store, and 
selected a butt, and cut it in two with a saw. 

l3 



234 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

Then with mallet and chisel we carved out the 
quantity required, weighed it, packed it up in 
brown paper, and gave it to the purchaser, and 
away he went towards home. On his arrival 
the wife, having dinner nearly ready-prepared, 
asked if he had the oil, as she wanted it as a 
sauce for the fish. " Sure an' I have," said Pat, 
and put his hand under his stiffly-frozen blanket- 
frock, to produce it from an inner pocket, when, 
to his astonishment, he found only the sheet of 
brown paper which had contained the oleaginous 
block ! The oil itself was not to be found. A 
light then instantly broke upon the shrewd house- 
wife, $.nd she requested her husband not to come 
too near the fire, and bade him change his 
clothes. This he did, and the wife having hung 
them up before the fire, and placed a pan be- 
neath, nearly the whole of the oil was caught in 
it. The oil had melted with the air-tight heat 



HOME AGAIN. 235 

of Pat's coat, and run down his clothes, where it 
had again frozen, and the stiff, cumbrous nature 
of the dress had prevented him noticing either 
process, Pat used to say, " Bedad I was startled 
when I found it had gone ; but when Biddy 
sent me upstairs to put on fresh clothes, and i 
came back and spied the oil in the pan, I said, 
6 Get out wid ye ! you're a witch ! ' 

The spring was passed as in former years, and 
presently the outward ship from home arrived. 

It happens that when ice is scarce in the 
United States, schooners frequent the coast for 
the purpose of obtaining a supply for the West 
India Islands. The mode of procuring it is 
attended with much risk to the adventurers : 
a small iceberg, grounded near the shore, is 
selected, the schooner sails alongside, and the 
crew work night and day until the craft is 
loaded. This takes only a short time, but the 



236 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

danger is great, as should the top of the iceberg 
become heavier than the part under water, away 
goes schooner, crew and all. I had an oppor- 
tunity of witnessing a schooner loading — or 
rather about to load — in this way from a berg ; 
and just as the crew had made the vessel 
fast and commenced, crack it went, and turned 
over. The act was so sudden that the crew had 
not time to cast off their grapples, to save the 
craft from being taken some ten feet out of 
water, when fortunately the hawsers broke, and 
down she came with the loss of both masts. 
Fortunately no lives were sacrificed, the whole 
affair not lasting more than five minutes. 
There is never the least notice given, nor any 
perceptible index afforded, that an iceberg is 
turning over. To replace the schooners masts 
was only the work of a few days, when, to 
my surprise, I found the crew once again 



HOME AGAIN. 237 

engaged in their perilous occupation upon an- 
other berg. 

Labrador abounds in white spar, and also 
in small specimens of that beautiful one called 
" Labrador spar;' 5 but from the action of the 
snow and ice lodging in the crevices of the cliffs 
during the winter, tons of rocks are every spring 
of the year split asunder, and fall into the sea, 
so that any mining operations near the coast 
would be impossible. Ironstone may also be 
found along the shores in large quantities, but 
the prosecution of fishing and sealing yielding 
good profit, less remunerative employments are 
naturally neglected. On a small island, in 
51° 21' N., and 55° W., I have often observed on 
the easternmost point the subsoil covered with a 
black sort of stone resembling coal, and have fre- 
quently taken portions home with me and placed 
it on the fire, and found it to give a strong heat 



238 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

much like the culm of South Wales. From 
the looseness of the subsoil I have thought a 
good mine exists on this island, which could 
easily be worked in the summer, while the pro- 
duce could be drawn away to the main during 
the winter months, as it would be impossible for 
any ship to anchor near it in the summer-time. 
The harbour, being formed by two small islands 
bearing east and west, opens to the ocean, and 
from the directions I have given the spot may 
be readily found by the ships of any enterprising 
company desirous of testing the mine — if mine 
there be. 



trained dogs. 239 



CHAPTER XXL 



TRAINED DOGS AND HOMEWARD BOUND. 



-♦<>♦- 



During winter, for want of horses, dogs are 
used for the purpose of conveying all sorts of 
produce to and from the bays, as well as for 
pleasure. Some are trained as retrievers, watch, 
house, and water dogs. Still they are all of the 
same breed. The retriever is well known in 
England, but I fancy the duty of the Labrador 
watch-dog is little if at all understood. In the 
summer and fall, then, many stray ducks may 
be seen frequenting the small bays round the 
islands; the watch-dog lands with you, and, 
with much caution, examines the shore, and 



240 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

directly he observes ducks, he will instantly lie 
down and crawl out of their sight, then imme- 
diately rise and run towards you, when by his 
actions you may be sure he has sighted a com- 
pany. He leads the way, and when in the 
vicinity of the birds, down he crouches, and you 
must do the same. Should you be over- eager, 
and fire at too great a distance, and miss your 
birds, the dog looks towards them for a moment, 
as if reflecting ! — " It's no use going into the 
water, he has not killed any," — and stands still. 
If, on the other hand, you have a good shot — 
killing, say, half-a-dozen, and crippling three or 
four — in he bounds, leaving the dead birds and 
giving chase to the cripples. If they are wounded 
in the wings they swim with difficulty, and can- 
not dive, and so become an easy spoil. The dog 
has the instinct to know this, for he wastes but 
little time in the pursuit. It constantly arises 






TRAINED DOGS. 241 

that the spot from whence the ducks are shot is, 
at least, ten feet perpendicular from the water ; 
sportsmen provide themselves in such instances 
with what is termed a "gunning gaff," some twelve 
feet long, with an iron crook at the end, made in 
the shape of a shepherd's crook. The dog brings 
a duck at a time under the rock ; you place the 
crook round its neck, and draw it up or land it. 
The last bird the dog retains in his mouth, and 
allows himself to be drawn up in a somewhat 
scientific manner ; that is to say, having seized 
the bird firmly across the wings he swims under 
the rock, and allows his master to place the hook 
through his collar at the back of the neck ; then 
placing his paws against the rock, and throwing 
his weight on the gaff, he gracefully walks up 
and lands his game ; did he not retain it in the 
operation in all probability he would be choked. 
Of a fine day I have seen these dogs near the 
landwash amusing themselves fishing, diving 



242 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

six or seven feet, and bringing up a fish every 
time. Their mode of diving is not direct, but 
spiral. 

It has been said a goose is a foolish bird, and 
certainly the geese of Labrador are very foolish 
indeed. They are found some miles up the 
bays, and when discovered the dog uses a simple 
artifice to decoy them. Near the shore (the 
neighbourhood of a small wood ? with goose-grass 
in the foreground, is their favourite resort) he 
rushes out of the wood into the water and swims 
some eight or ten yards, with head low and tail 
out — looking something like a water-fowl — then 
comes back to the shore, and so continues until 
he fancies they are within shot, when he quietly 
waits by your side watching your gun, and, by 
his looks, showing his anxiety to see the flash. 
Then off he goes and secures his birds, and lands 
them at your feet. 

The house-dog has a peculiar sagacity. I 



TRAINED DOGS. 243 

trained one to keep house in a noiseless manner. 
If myself or steward was not at home, and a 
visitor called, the dog would allow him to walk 
in, sit down, light and smoke his pipe, as if un- 
conscious of his presence ; but if the visitor 
attempted to leave the house the dog was up in 
an instant, and, placing himself in the doorway, 
showed a set of teeth of dazzling but appalling 
whiteness. The frightened fellow again returns 
and takes his seat, the dog once more lies down, 
and thus the pair are seen on the return of one 
of the household. A visitor once served that 
way takes care to look through the window 
on his next call, to see if any one is at home. 
The dogs sent to England, with rough shaggy 
coats, are useless on the coast; the true-bred 
and serviceable dog having smooth, short hair, 
very close and compact to the body. I sent 
to England a fine specimen of these, but un- 



244 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

fortunately the vessel which bore it had the 
misfortune to be wrecked on the north coast of 
Ireland, and all hands were lost. 

Before leaving the coast I met with an acci- 
dent which nearly cost me my life ; as it was, it 
deprived me of the sight of one eye (fortunately 
the left one). Learning that a stray deer had been 
seen on an island about four miles off, I started 
in pursuit of it, and after gaining the spot came 
in view of the desired object, examined, loaded 
my rifle, and took a deliberate aim, when, in- 
stead of the deer falling, I found myself tottering 
backwards. The crew I had with me placed me 
in the boat and conveyed me with all speed to 
my home. 

On my arrival I found I had lost much 
blood, and, calling for my writing-desk, com- 
menced writing to my friends in England how 
my last moments had come to pass, which, 



HOMEWARD BOUJSD. 245 

at that time, I expected to be near at hand. I 
had written about half-a-dozen lines, when the 
pen fell from ray grasp, and all consciousness 
left me. I was in that state for some days, 
when, on recovery, I found an old nurse and her 
daughter anxiously watching my return to sense. 
As is common in such cases, my first inquiry 
was, what had happened ? when the whole was 
explained to me. The rifle had burst, and the 
ball had passed in a retrograde direction, striking 
my left temple, and grazing it about the sixteenth 
of an inch, opening the veins in that region of 
the head. Although no doctor was there, every 
attention was paid me, and in about six weeks I 
was all right again. 

Some of my Irish friends learned I was about 
leaving the coast in the fall of the year, and on 
parting with the " early-leaving ones " — as the 
first ship of passengers is called — many a hearty 



246 RECOLLECTIONS OP LABRADOR LIFE. 

wish was expressed by my demonstrative friends 
for a safe passage to myself across the water, and 
many a hope that the following spring would see 
me once more amongst them. On the day of 
my departure I received no less than twelve 
large loaves of new-baked bread, as tokens of 
regard from them. The night before my depar- 
ture was spent in merry-making, and a right 
jovial time we had of it. While in Labrador I 
only met with one Scotchman, and not even 
with one Welchman. 

Three of the old hands, who had not visited 
England for more than twenty years, took pas- 
sage with me. The brig we embarked in was 
about two hundred tons, oil-laden, and in good 
trim. The master, however, was a timid old 
man, declaring he should not press his brig with 
too much canvas ; and to be on the right side he 
actually stowed away his top-gallant masts under 



HOMEWARD BOUND. - 247 

the cargo, " because,' 1 as he put it, "it was best 
to keep out of temptation ! " 

This fall, winter had set in early and severe, 
and we were not one day too soon under weigh. 
The first night the drifting mist was freezing as 
fast as it reached the cordage, and the deck of 
the brig was, on starting, almost a mass of ice, 
and the rigging three or four times its original 
size. A sort of artificial galler y ran all round 
the ship. After three or four days at sea this 
disappeared, but, in detaching itself from aloft, it 
came rattling down much to the discomfort of 
the crew and passengers. During all this time 
the old skipper kept watch in the companion, 
and nothing could persuade him to venture 
on deck after the fifth day. Signs of rough 
weather then made their appearance, and it 
commenced blowing in sudden puffs and squalls, 
much to the amusement of the crew, who said, 



248 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

so long as we had the gale, the old skipper would 
keep below and not annoy them. " For," said 
an old salt, " you see, sir, interest in the mer- 
chant-service is like that in the navy: they all 
look out for their relations. The skipper is 
related to the owners, and the mate sails the 
ship." The old man continued : " I have sailed 
in several men-of-war, and I don't know how it 
was, but hang me if nearly all the captains and 
some of the officers did not belong to the same 
family, as if a whole tribe, sir, was born tip-top 
sailors ! " 

The wind increasing, orders were given to 
heave the brig to, although the wind was right 
aft. Presently the gale became a perfect hurri- 
cane, the brig driving home stern foremost. On 
the third day, after heaving to, a sea struck her 
on the starboard bow, carrying away all the bul- 
warks, and this was followed by another, sweep- 






HOMEWARD BOUND. 249 

ing the deck of the cabouse, or cook-house, with 
sundry casks of water, " right away. ,! Fortu- 
nately the crew saw the sea coming and secured 
themselves ; as luck would have it the masts 
held on fast. It was now certain that we should 
be short of water, and all hands were immedi- 
ately placed on half-allowance. It was always 
a shame that ships, even when making short 
voyages, should be permitted to carry their 
stock of water in casks ranged along the side of 
the deck. In our case we were, in consequence 
of the casks having been carried away, so short 
of water that one man exchanged a bottle of it 
for a bottle of spirits. It was an unfortunate 
bargain for him. He drank the spirits, was 
seized with thirst and fever, and died. 

We had been hove to for six days, with only 
bread and water and a small quantity of spirits 
to eat and drink, when the wind moderated and 

M 



250 RECOLLECTIONS OF LABRADOR LIFE. 

enabled the crew to wear ship and set more 
sail ; also to get a fire "under weigh/ 5 and thus 
to enjoy a warm meal. We had been out now 
eleven days, and as we were so short of water, 
and as the wind still continued favourable, the 
mate persuaded the master to carry more sail. 
This was done, and at the end of eight days we 
were steering for an anchorage at St. Mary's 
Island (Scilly). As this was Sunday we re- 
turned thanks for our safe deliverance from the 
perils of the deep, and, I must say, enjoyed a 
draught of pure water with more zest than if it 
had been Constantia or Champagne. We then 
went on shore and made merry. 

When the reader remembers that some of us 
had not seen a " house/ in the English sense 
of the word for twenty years, he will sympathise 
with the liberal use that was made of the cosy 
inn parlour and a thousand other comforts upon 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 251 

shore. The sight of a real four-post bedstead 
was nothing less than inspiriting. 

Next day we were again on board the brig. 
We had a splendid north-west breeze, and, in a 
few days, were safely anchored in a snug little 
harbour on the coast of Devon. I cannot ex- 
press my joy on again returning to my native 
land, but as the reader closes this little work let 
him think of the hard life I had led and the 
dangers I had undergone, and conceive for 
himself all the feelings I find it impossible to 
set upon paper. 



THE END. 



LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, 

AND CHARING CROSS. 



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